The 47th Annual Derby Days is a weeklong series of events featuring games and parties to benefit charity. The Gamma Upsilon chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity hosts Derby Days to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Derby Days is a way for Sigma Chi to help with the foundation’s goals of reaching out to terminally ill children and making their dreams become a reality.
Last year, Sigma Chi raised enough money to grant about six wishes. This year, they hope to exceed that number so more children’s wishes can be fulfilled through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The organizer for Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, Chris Stoltman, a.k.a. “the Derby Daddy,” said the Gamma Upsilon chapter of Sigma Chi is unique in their connection to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“We’re actually the only Sigma Chi chapter that does this type of philanthropy,” Stoltman said. “We basically raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through the different sororities participating in the events and different businesses advertising in our Derby books,” he added.
Mississippi State’s six sororities, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, Chi Omega, Zeta Tau Alpha, Delta Delta Delta and Phi Mu, will be participating in the Derby Days activities throughout the week.
Ross King, basketball tournament chairman for Derby Days, explained the different events that Sigma Chi will put on this week.
“We have a week’s worth of events, starting with sororities decorating banners on Monday,” King said. “Tuesday, we had a basketball tournament and Friday, we are having a lip-sync competition, where all six sororities compete at the [Sigma Chi] house. Saturday, field games start on the old intramural fields,” said King.
Festivities including field games, dances and other events will start at noon Saturday, followed by a party at the Sigma Chi house featuring a performance by the band Mile 8.
Sigma Chi believes Derby Days is getting more exposure every year because the Make-A-Wish Foundation is so prevalent in the work it accomplishes and in the popularity of the Derby Days themselves.
“It’s grown every year,” Stoltman said. “I think every year more and more people talk about it, and it just keeps getting bigger and more widely-known.”
Derby Days is an interesting way to support philanthropies like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and has proven to be successful.
The Sigma Chi’s feel the impact they have on the Make-A-Wish Foundation is a huge gift to kids who wouldn’t have the chance to make their dreams come true without the money raised through Derby Days.
“It’s a great opportunity for our fraternity to give back,” King said. “It gives us a chance to give back to a worth while organization like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and hopefully touch kids’ lives that are affected by life-threatening diseases.”