Philanthropies are more than just events where people socialize, play games and eat lots of food - they are an opportunity to raise money for a good cause and give back to the community.
Here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, fraternity and sorority philanthropies are in full swing.
"We do Bison Bash with Sigma Phi Epsilon, and the money goes to Youth Aid and Lincoln Literacy Program," said Allyson Sokolewicz, a junior fashion merchandising major and member of Pi Beta Phi.
Sokolewicz said for Bison Bash, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Pi Beta Phi cater sandwiches and have 102.7 KFRX and the Bathtub Dogs as entertainment.
Pi Beta Phi also organizes Car Program, a fall promotion for Champion for Readers and parking sales on football game days, Sokolewicz said.
The money raised on game days goes to the sorority's national philanthropy, Arrow Mount School of the Arts and Crafts.
Other greek houses do several charities throughout the school year.
"We do M*A*S*H* in the spring and Fish Fry during Lent season," said Brad Isham, a junior architecture major and member of Delta Tau Delta. "For Fish Fry, we give the money to Clinton Elementary School."
Isham said for the M*A*S*H* event, members of the Armed Service Alumni contacted his fraternity because a member's son is seeking medical treatment and is in need of money.
To get the word out about their philanthropies, both fraternities and sororities put in lots of time and effort to advertise.
"We do a lot of promotions and divide the house into committees," Sokolewicz said. "We have a booth in the union and make banners."
Delta Tau Delta does house announcements on Monday nights, advertisements in the Daily Nebraskan and sells tickets in the union, Isham said.
Along with their own philanthropies, some greek houses lend a hand to philanthropies they do not run.
"We have had quite a few of us (brothers) work at Spaghetti Splash," Isham said. "Our guys get really into it."
Isham said this year's Spaghetti Splash, which is run by the Student Alumni Association, is in honor of Bob Foehlinger, a former house member. The money raised will go toward a memorial fountain for Foehlinger.
Other events have begun as greek events but have expanded to include the entire campus, said Linda Schwartzkopf, the director of Greek Affairs at UNL.
"The Relay for Life on campus started as a greek-wide philanthropy. For the first couple of years it was a greek-sponsored event," she said. "Then the thought was it should be a wider event than just the greek system."
Schwartzkopf said that the sheer number of greek students on campus can be a hindrance when looking for philanthropy events to incorporate the entire greek population.
The numbers have been a help, though, as the greek community came together to provide aid after the Hurricane Katrina and Hallam tornado disasters, among many other smaller philanthropy and service efforts.
"You can't list everything that everyone's doing," Schwartzkopf said, "but there are a lot of good things going on in the community."
Staff reporter Megan Rooney contributed to this report.
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