Omicron Chapter Partners, Raises Higher Funds

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The men of the Omicron Chapter and the women of the Ohio State Chapter of Delta Delta Delta have been recognized at the 2010 Ohio State Leadership Awards with the Outstanding Student Organization Collaboration Award. The two organizations partnered last spring quarter to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with a week of fundraising events, called “TKE Tri Delta Week.”

The inaugural week of events included a cookout for members to meet each other, a wing eating contest sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings, a walking taco food sale, and a jail-and-bail event. Walking tacos, which are bags of Fritos and Doritos filled with taco fillings, were sold on High Street along with t-shirts to benefit St. Jude.

The jail-and-bail was a full day event where members of the OSU fraternity and sorority community and other campus leaders were “arrested”, locked in a makeshift cage in the center of campus. Prisoners had to call their friends to come with a donation to St. Jude, and were released from the cage only when they had raised their pre-determined bail amount.

The inaugural week of events raised a total of $3,601 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. During the summer of 2009, Fraters Eric Sanchez and Danny Paulson attended the St. Jude Collegiate Leadership Seminar with OSU Tri Deltas Andrea Jimenez and Julianna Scott at St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee. All four students were involved in the planning of the inaugural events and have used their experience to do even more for St. Jude this school year.

For the 2009-2010 academic year, the two organizations have extended their partnership with a full year of events to continue raising money for the children of St. Jude. Already this year, TKE members helped Delta Delta Delta organize the annual “Just For Kicks” soccer tournament and participated in the “Sincerely Yours” letter-writing campaign. These events combined have raised more than $21,000 between the two organizations.

Andrea Jimenez, past president of Delta Delta Delta, said, "We are so grateful for the philanthropic partnership that we have developed with TKE. We've been able to create new traditions at Ohio State that benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, while working together to support this cause. By combining efforts, we have been able to host larger events than either one of us could have done alone, and we look forward to our continued collaboration."

This year’s TKE Tri-Delta Week is planned for May 4-8th, 2010 and will include a blood drive, walking taco sales, and the jail-and-bail.

The Offices of the Grand Chapter applaud the efforts of the Omicron Chapter men and encourage the rest of the TKE Nation to work hard for this great cause. If you need assistance, don't hesitate to contact us.

Be sure to follow the latest TKE News with the RSS Feed, on Twitter or the official TKE Facebook Fan Page (Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity). Submit your news today.