With money still pouring in, the Delta Gamma sorority has collected more than $2,000 during the past week to benefit Service for Sight, a center for the blind, in its annual Anchor Splash fundraiser.
The money will help provide the center with braille books, eye screenings and funding for service dogs.
“We have such great support from families and Greek Row,” said Andrea Sidwell, president of Delta Gamma. “We have a lot of alumni in the area who have always been really supportive.”
The house held a telethon last Monday to inform alumni about the fundraising efforts.
“We’ll probably get everything right before Thanksgiving. Everyone’s money is still getting sent,” Sidwell said.
Delta Gamma set a goal of raising $8,000 within the week. The sorority also relied on the campus community to help raise money.
“I love it. When people hear (an event) is for something, they really want to come,” said freshman Marie Preobrazhensky.
About 150 people came to Delta Gamma’s ice cream social at the Spoon Me frozen yogurt shop last Monday night.
“I was surprised how many people came in, actually,” said Ryan Combe, founder of Spoon Me.
The yogurt shop kept a jar open for donations to Service for Sight during the night and throughout the week.
“We feature a local charity each month anyway, instead of a tip cup. We’d be willing to help them raise money this week,” said Combe, who estimates that the jar has collected around $235.
Eighty-eight people came to the basketball tournament on Tuesday and approximately 40 people came to the flapjack breakfast Saturday morning. The basketball tournament raised more than $880. Teams of four paid $40 to participate. The winning team received free Anchor Splash T-shirts, as well as Café Rio gift certificates.
“It was pretty fun, there were so many guys that came,” said freshman Elizabeth Cannon.
Sidwell said that the opportunity for competition was enough to draw a crowd of guys.
“We came close to winning a game, and we should have,” said Devin Van Leeuwen, a senior economics major, who played in the tournament.
The same Anchor Splash T-shirts awarded to the winning team were available during the week for active Delta Gamma members to purchase, with all proceeds going to Service for Sight.
This year might prove to be a turning point in the sorority’s fundraising event planning.
“A lot of people are confused why we call it Anchor Splash,” said Sidwell.
In the past, the philanthropy week included a synchronized swimming event at the HPER swimming pool known as Anchor Splash. Because members were unable to schedule the pool event two years ago, the sorority hosted a bowling event called Anchor Bowl instead. This year, the house chose basketball as the main event, which Sidwell says will hopefully become a tradition.
“We changed it to Anchor Slam and we have more participation, we have more teams, more people sign up,” she said.