Greek philanthropies help local charities

Intense cheers came out of the mouths of the competing teams as players continuously tried to spike the volleyball into the faces of the opposing team. But it's not all about winning the game -- it's about winning the money for the charity of each greek chapter's choice. \nSororities, independent sponsors and fraternities congregate every year behind Sigma Nu fraternity for Alpha Chi Omega's annual Volleyball Classic philanthropy.\n"It shows the greek system is more than just a party," Alpha Chi's philanthropy chair Deb Weigel said between breaths during one match. \nFraternities and sororities all over campus have been planning their chapter's community service projects, and many have already seen philanthropic success this fall. Alpha Chi raised $6,000 Oct. 18 for Middle Way House, which supports women who are victims of domestic violence, and Zeta Tau Alpha's Big Man On Campus raised $31,000 which goes to women's breast cancer research. Some fraternities, like Phi Delta Theta, give their time rather than their cash. \n"We're focused more on services rather than money, because it's gotten too hard to compete with other fund-raising events," Phi Delt's philanthropy chair Jim Howland said.\nBagging the traditional wiffle ball tournament, which hasn't raised a lot of money in past years, members of the fraternity will offer their time and company to children with mental disabilities from the Stone Belt organization and hold a Thanksgiving dinner for underprivileged children.\nPhilanthropy chairs of many houses on campus work to come up with a wide array of ideas for community service in order to get the whole house and community involved. \n"With over 100 guys, you can't please everyone," Howland said. "So we try to incorporate a lot of smaller events." \nPhilanthropies are organized in order for greek chapters to reach their required community service hours. \n"Sometimes (philanthropy projects) are regarded as a hassle, so it is important to appeal to everyone's interests," Weigel said. "People get so wrapped up in school and work, something like this keeps us in the right mind set."\nAlpha Tau Omega fraternity never had a big philanthropic event until last year when it held "Drop the Beat on Third Street," a rap-off similar to scenes in the movie "8 Mile," sponsored by Pizza Express. The event raised $1,350 for the Bloomington Boys and Girls Club. \n"We do it because Bloomington needs it and it reflects well on the greek community," said Bobby Bresner, ATO's philanthropy chair. \nATO chose to plan its philanthropy during Little 500 week so students and community members would be more enthusiastic about getting up and helping out. \n"No one's required to do it, but it's fun to do," Bresner said. "We have fun and give back to the community."\nIU students are not only given the opportunity to show off their vocal styling to fund-raise, but they can also test their knowledge about Indiana's campus life. \nDelta Zeta sorority held the soon-to-be-annual IU Family Feud last spring involving 42 teams from 28 different greek chapters to help the estimated 42 million Americans -- about 10 percent of the U.S population -- who have communication disorders and/or problems with hearing, speech or language. One hundred people were surveyed for the "feud" on the IU campus and were asked questions such as, "In what state do most IU out-of-state students live?" The event also featured the band Epic.\nRada Samardzija, Delta Zeta's philanthropy chair, said it may be a lot of work, but it's all worth it.\n"Part of joining a sorority (or fraternity) is making the commitment of service, and this is one of the ways we fulfill this."\n-- Contact staff writer Kate Simony at ksimony@indiana.edu.