The University of Waterloo Imprint - October 14, 2005

Jumping to help out

By Ashley Csanady - Special to Imprint

On Wednesday, October 12, Waterloo's fraternity and sorority awareness club held a jump-a-thon in the lower part of the Student Life Centre to raise relief money for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Waterloo's five fraternities and sororities, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Chi, Sigma Lambda Gamma, Zeta Psi and Alpha Epsilon, joined together to organize and run this event. They jumped on trampolines, as well as jumped rope from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., accompanied by the UW DJ Club, with a goal of raising $5,000 and awareness for their cause.

They hope to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, which ravaged the Gulf Coast this past August and September. An estimated $150 billion dollars in damage was caused and over 1,200 people died as a direct result of these hurricanes.

Dan Macleod, president of Sigma Chi, said this particular type of fundraiser "was a concept we'd been throwing around for the last two terms, but we had trouble getting clearance safety-wise."

A group of Sigma Chi brothers are continuing the relief efforts by driving down to the affected area and volunteering to assist in relief and cleanup efforts.

When asked what the motivation is behind supporting this particular cause, organizer Renji Butalid said, "A lot of people in fraternities and sororities have been affected. We thought it would be a great way to relate to the people [affected] in the States. In fraternities and sororities our rituals and our history and what we stand for is the same everywhere. We thought it would be a great way to help out."

Raising awareness is one of the goals of this event, but not just about the disaster. Butalid said they are also "trying to downplay stereotypes of fraternities and sororities. There's a saying, ‘If you don't actively go out and make your own reputation, somebody will go out and do it for you.' Philanthropy is an integral part of fraternity and sorority life and we want to spread that reputation."

All money raised will go directly to the Canadian Red Cross; however, Butalid says, "In light of the disaster in Pakistan, although the money is intended for Katrina, we'll give the money to the Red Cross for them to use at their discretion."