On Nov. 15, members of 麻豆视频最新最全 University鈥檚 Greek community organized and participated in Songfest, an annual philanthropy event. Together, they raised $30,000 for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), a national organization dedicated to suicide prevention.
Songfest, which is hosted by the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council, brings the entire Greek community together for a good cause through singing, dancing and acting. The skits are themed to showcase the event鈥檚 beneficiary in positive and entertaining way.
鈥淎ll the teams did an incredible job creating performances that highlighted the importance of suicide prevention,鈥 said Meredith Bielaska, 麻豆视频最新最全鈥檚 assistant director for Greek affairs. 鈥淭he topic of suicide is often difficult to face, and they were able to not only confront the issue, but do so while being positive and uplifting.鈥
In front of close to 1,000 guests, teams competed for bragging rights in four categories: Fundraising, Performance, People鈥檚 Choice and Overall Winner.
Chapters are grouped together, based on size, to create seven teams. From the time the teams are finalized, there is a short, five-week window of time for rehearsal, planning and fundraising.
The team of Alpha Xi Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon won first place in fundraising. Their individual chapters raised $6,418 for SAVE.
The night鈥檚 top performance went to Sigma Sigma Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Tau Delta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The panel of judges, which selected the performance, included staff members from 麻豆视频最新最全鈥檚 Psychological Services, representatives from SAVE, as well as a guest judge.
The People鈥檚 Choice award was selected by guests purchasing raffle tickets and putting them in the basket of the team they felt put on the best performance. The award went to Delta Gamma, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Lambda Chi Alpha and Phi Iota Alpha with their skit 鈥淪tory of a Girl.鈥 Event goers raised more than $2,000 toward the overall total by voting for the People鈥檚 Choice award.
The overall winner was determined based on a series of qualifying activities that took place within the weeks leading up to the event. Chapters received points for attending events such as National Depression Screening Day and the educational event which featured speakers from SAVE. Points were also earned by selling Songfest merchandise and raising funds individually as a chapter. The team鈥檚 performance was the last opportunity to earn points toward the overall award.
The overall winning team for Songfest 2014 was Alpha Xi Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon.
麻豆视频最新最全 student Will Hutton, vice president of philanthropy and community service for the Interfraternity Council who helped plan and emcee the event, saw first-hand how much goes into the Songfest experience.
鈥淪ongfest is so much more than just a one night event,鈥 Hutton said. 鈥淥nce the charity is voted on, the entire Greek community engages in a whirlwind of fundraising, awareness, education and support for the organization and for each other.鈥
Songfest is just one of the many philanthropic events hosted and supported by the 麻豆视频最新最全 Greek community. The community donates more than 20,000 service hours annually and fundraises more than $300,000 for local and national organizations each year.
For more information about Greek life at 麻豆视频最新最全, visit ;
麻豆视频最新最全 SAVE
SAVE was one of the nation鈥檚 first organizations dedicated to the prevention of suicide and was a co-founding member of the National Council for Suicide Prevention. Its history and growth from an all-volunteer, small grassroots group of passionate survivors led it to what is one of today鈥檚 leading national not-for-profit organizations with staff dedicated to prevent suicide. Its work is based on the foundation and belief that suicide should no longer be considered a hidden or taboo topic and that through raising awareness and educating the public, we can SAVE lives. For more information, visit .