Greeks sponsor concert to benefit Katrina relief

Saturday was a busy day for greek philanthropists.\nIU students participated in outdoor festivities with Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Phi to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. Later they experienced the sounds of a Jimmy Buffet cover band, Key West Express, in Dunn Meadow at a concert sponsored by the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.\nDelta Tau Delta and Alpha Phi teamed up to raise about $800 to aid people affected by Hurricane Katrina. The fraternity and sorority played host Saturday to an outdoor celebration featuring water activities and food. The houses scheduled the event to last from 3 to 8 p.m., but inclement weather cut the event a couple of hours short.\nThe most popular features were the giant slip 'n' slide and the "Dunk-a-Cop" booth, Delta Tau Delta member Andrew Gant said. Officer Sam Shahrani offered himself up for a dunking booth to benefit the cause.\n"It's an event we're going to start doing every year," Gant said. "It was such a great turnout, and we have a bunch of ideas for next year."\nThe event took about two weeks to organize, Delta Tau Delta philanthropic chair Mark Miller said.\n"It just seemed like an original idea for a good cause," Miller said.\nThe greek houses charged a $5 entry fee and attracted between 250 and 300 people to the event.\nFor the cover band portion of the greek community's philanthropy, IFC and PHA sponsored a concert Saturday in Dunn Meadow. For a $10 donation, students could listen to Key West Express, a Jimmy Buffett cover band, which played to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association as a tribute to the end of Greek Week.\n"It's good to see all the greeks come together for a good cause," IFC member Todd Waldman said. "The band was really excited to play for all the greeks here."\nThough the concert was organized to cap off Greek Week, the event attracted non-greeks who were interested in the band and the cause. \nKerry McChesney, a non-greek, attended the event because she and a friend were interested in seeing Key West Express.\n"I think it's going toward a good and necessary cause, but I wish there would have been more people here," McChesney said.\nThe two organizations chose Key West Express because it seemed appropriate for the theme of this year's Greek Week, which was titled "Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes." The concert brought in about $5,000 for the charity and sold about 300 tickets, largely due to pre-sales. \n"On our Greek Week committee, there are two members that have close ties to muscular dystrophy and we thought it'd be appropriate," Waldman said.\nOrganizers were pleased with the turnout and the amount of money raised.\n"The entire Greek Week as a whole has been a big success," Waldman said.