Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Event of the Month

Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, the fraternity’s primary philanthropy, is the event of the month. In essence, Derby Days is a weeklong philanthropy where sororities compete against each other. In other words, Derby Days can be described as a “sorority Olympics.” The winner of Derby Days is given the chance to share the privilege of having their name included in the check that will be donated to Children’s Miracle Network. Since Derby Days is a philanthropy event, Sigma Chi’s primary goal is to raise money to donate to the Children’s Miracle Network. In 2008, the fraternity’s goal is to raise more than $7,000. There are several methods Sigma Chi uses to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. Here are some of the methods and their descriptions:

Coin Change

Each participating sorority can donate their change to the coin drive. The coin drive is usually located in the university’s quad area or in the Sigma Chi fraternity house. Each sorority is given a container where they can donate their change. In this event, Sigma Chi aims to raise money by placing points on the type of change each sorority donates. Usually, a penny, dime or nickel is given a 1-point value. However, a quarter is given a negative 5 points value. For example, if Gamma Phi Beta dropped 20 pennies into their container, then they receive 20 points. However, if Zeta Tau Alpha dropped in 4 quarters into the Gamma Phi Beta’s container, then Gamma Phi Beta receives negative 20 points.

Raffle Ticket Sales

Sigma Chi offers the participating sororities the opportunity to gain points by purchasing raffle tickets. Each raffle tickets cost roughly around $1 each. In addition, each raffle ticket is usually worth 1 point. There is a limit to the number of raffle tickets that can be sold to avoid having a sorority buy their way to victory in Derby Days. At the end of Derby Days, a random raffle ticket is drawn to determine who wins the designated prize.

Shirt Sales

In addition to the raffle ticket sales, each sorority can earn more points by purchasing the Derby Days shirts. Each shirt purchases is worth points. The more shirts a sorority purchases, the better chance that certain organization can win Derby Days.


In addition to these fund raising events, there are several fun activities in Derby Days. Here are some of these events:

Competition Wednesday

On Wednesday of Derby Days, there are three main activities that each sorority can compete in to gain more points. The first event is tug-of-war. Each sorority is required to have a maximum of eight girls to participate in this event. In addition, each sorority is only allowed to have two of their Sigma Chi coaches to help them. This event is tournament, one-game elimination basis. The winner of this event receives 100 points.

The second event is the pie-eating contest. Each participating sorority needs one of their girls to partake in this activity. The first girl to completely eat the whole pie wins the contest. The winning sorority receives 100 points.

The last event is the obstacle course. Sigma Chi rents out an inflatable obstacle course for this event. Each sorority is divided up into even numbers. Similar to the tug-of-war competition, the obstacle course is on a tournament, one-game elimination basis.

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