Iowa State’s sororities and fraternities put on many philanthropic events this past spring semester. There were many philanthropic events held by individual organizations as well as some collaborative events put together by more than one organization this semester.

The community altogether hosted 45 philanthropic events, each supporting their own specific cause. These events were creative in how they fundraised and promoted awareness for their selected cause. Some organizations educated guests about their cause by providing informational flyers, speaking about the why behind their event, as well as showing educational videos during the event. Additionally, some organizations actually provided guests the opportunity to write down why they were supporting the cause and show their commitment to making a difference.

Each fraternity and sorority philanthropy event was unique in its own way in how they fundraised for and promoted their charitable cause. There were food related events where organizations provided guests who donated to the cause with meals ranging from soup, tacos, breakfast foods, pasta, quesadillas, root beer floats, pies, shaved ice, doughnuts and more.

Some events utilized physical activity to fundraise like Gamma Phi Beta’s Moonball event, Delta Tau Delta’s Delt’s Dash For Diabetes 5k, Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc.’s Tire Flipping Competition and Sigma Lambda Gamma & Sigma Lambda Beta’s 16th Annual Charity Bowl at Perfect Games. Other events like Sigma Phi Epsilon’s SigEp Carnival, Sigma Lambda Gamma’s Rent a Puppy and Gamma Rho Lambda’s Pride Block Party also created unique ways for people to donate to charitable causes.

Here are some of the philanthropic highlights from the spring semester:

Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc.

The members of Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. held their first ever Tire Flipping Competition on Tuesday, March 27 to fundraise for American Bone Health. The funds raised from this event went toward community education, professional education, bone density testing, fundraising and administration. Houa Vang, philanthropy & community service chair for Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc., said “physical activity can reduce the risk of osteoporosis and the benefits of tire flipping is working out your whole body and your mentality.” 

Delta Zeta

On April 5, Delta Zeta members held their eighth annual DZ Dogs philanthropy event. The event fundraised for the Starkey Hearing Foundation where the money is used to provide the gift of hearing to babies, children and adults around the globe. “Delta Zeta chose to support this charitable cause because so many people with hearing loss are able to be helped with a simple hearing aid, but do not have the funds to obtain them,” said Peyton Ditolla, sophomore in marketing. “About 20 percent of Americans (48 million people) experience some kind of hearing loss in their life, that can be cured with a hearing aid. This percentage goes up drastically in third world countries, where healthcare is scarce, and not as advanced.”

Phi Beta Chi

Phi Beta Chi’s first ever Beta Brunch philanthropy was held on March 23. The event consisted of a pancake fundraiser for Bethesda Lutheran Communities. The funds are used by the organization to create and find homes for adults with disabilities. During the event, Phi Beta Chi had their members educate guests as well as provide information about what Bethesda Lutheran Services does.

“Bethesda is just a way to give back to the community! I personally love the idea that we are helping people with disabilities feel more a part of the community,” said Paige Copple, chaplain of Phi Beta Chi. “To see the smiles on their face when they accomplish something on their own is an amazing gift. Giving to Bethesda is a way to make someone in this world happy.”

Alpha Delta Pi

The members of Alpha Delta Pi held their fifth annual Alpha Delta Pies philanthropy event on March 27 to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

RMHC provides houses near hospitals where families can stay for under $10 a night as well as providing family rooms in hospitals, mobile health care vehicles and grants to nonprofits across the globe. The money fundraised from this event specifically helps to support the Omaha Ronald McDonald House by covering the costs to supply clean beds, warm food, laundry services and other amenities for guests. This support allows families to stay near hospitals for a significantly reduced cost so they can focus on their children’s health.  

“Nothing will ever erase the memory I have of families coming into the kitchen and smiling so big when they saw the meal we made for them during one of our visits to the Des Moines Ronald McDonald House,” said Anastasia Frazee, philanthropy chair for Alpha Delta Pi. 

Beta Sigma Psi

During the Sunset Cookout event, members of Beta Sigma Psi provided guests with a meal consisting of burgers, brats, potato salad, baked beans and brownie sundaes in return for a monetary donation toward the Puppy Jake Foundation.

The Puppy Jake Foundation provides service dogs at no cost to American veterans with disabilities. The funds from the event go toward the training and purchase of purebred puppies, veterinary care, food and other necessitates. In addition to the Sunset Cookout event, members of Beta Sigma Psi visited the Puppy Jake Foundation training facility in Urbandale, Iowa. The experience allowed members to engage with the foundation’s work and become advocates for the Puppy Jake Foundation when pursuing fundraising efforts.

Chi Omega

Chi-O Rodeo was put on by members of Chi Omega on March 28, where funds were raised by selling tickets to the event which granted guests with burgers, chips, root beer floats and a fun environment where people could play games and learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Guests at the event were able to learn more about the real impact the foundation has and why it is important to support it.

Chi Omega is nationally partnered with Make-A-Wish, which means every chapter across the nation supports the organization through philanthropic and service related efforts. Since the national partnership started, Chi Omega has raised more than $19 million for Make-A-Wish.

Last fall, the Iowa State sorority and fraternity community raised over $46,000 toward charitable organizations through philanthropic events alone! Thank you to all organizations that held a philanthropy event this past year. It is exciting to imagine what the fall semester will bring for our community’s philanthropies and to see the total funds raised exceed last year’s amount.