Sigma Chi hosted its 58th Derby Days last week,  a weeklong philanthropy event hosted by Mississippi State University’s Sigma Chi Fraternity on behalf of its philanthropy, Catch-A-Dream Foundation. 
       This organization was founded at MSU in 2000 when the Make a Wish foundation established a policy preventing the foundation from granting wishes that involved hunting or the use of firearms, hunting bows or other hunting/sport-shooting equipment. 
     Catch-A-Dream grants once-in-a-lifetime hunting and fishing experiences to children 18 years or younger with life threatening illnesses. 
     Taylor Bufkin, sophomore public relations major, said she had her wish granted by the Catch-A-Dream foundation over a decade ago, and she says the foundation still impacts her life. 
   “I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to fulfill a dream that I would have never been able to without Catch-A-Dream,” Bufkin said. “They aren’t just someone who sent me on a trip and went away they have been a huge part of my life for almost 12 years now.”
    So far this year, Sigma Chi has raised $80,000, which is enough to send at least 20 children on a hunting and fishing trip across the U.S. and Canada. 
      Derby Days chairman, James Coggin, said he was overwhelmed by all the support he saw this year from the Greek community, hopes the rest of the student body will be motivated to help with such a great cause. 
    “The sorority involvement is what makes Derby Days what it is,” Coggin said.           To learn more about the Catch-A-Dream Foundation, visit their website at www.catchadream.org.