Kappa Sigma will host the Charity Bowl Classic, one of the largest fund-raising events among fraternities on campus, this weekend; a team comprised of members from the fraternity will play a full-padded football game against the Sigma Chi fraternity.
The event will raise money for the Catch-a-Dream Foundation, which takes terminally ill children on hunting and fishing trips of a lifetime, fraternity president Henry Minor said.
“They’re based on Mississippi State’s campus,” fraternity vice president and Charity Bowl chairman Luke Uithoven added.
“We’re also raising the money for two fraternity brothers,” Minor added.
Alumnus Tyler Young was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma several months ago, which is a highly advanced stage of cancer, Minor said.
“Our initial goal was $35,000, but once we found out Tyler was in the condition he was, we increased the goal to just over $40,000,” Minor added.
Freshman Adam Shields is waiting to find out whether a tumor discovered behind his eye is malignant or benign and the event will provide monetary support for him as well, Minor said.
“We’re helping out with the costs of having all the tests run,” Phillip Bass, a junior majoring in microbiology from Rolling Fork and a member of the fraternity said.
The check for the amount raised will be presented to a representative from Catch-A-Dream, and both Young and Shields, Uithoven said.
Also, at halftime, the Charity Bowl Queen will be announced, Uithoven said.
“Each sorority nominates a girl and she comes and does an interview with the judges; and they pick a queen,” Uithoven said.
To raise the money, members of the fraternity sell ads that will go into a program that will be sold at the game, Bass said.
“Our fraternity raises more money through this single event than any other Kappa Sigma fraternity in the nation,” he added.
Minor said support for the event has come from many different venues.
“We’ve also had an incredible amount of support from alumnus,” Minor said.
Older members of the fraternity who knew Tyler are giving as much support as they can. This event has a personal note for every one in the fraternity, Minor said.
“It really hits home when we realize that cancer affects people close to us rather than someone we don’t know,” Uithoven said.
“The community of Starkville has seen the significance of this event,” Minor said.
Businesses are contributing readily to the event, sponsoring the event in order to add to the ultimate goal of $40,000, Minor added.
“This is one of the things we take a lot of pride in because it benefits others,” Bass said. “Instead of just worrying about going out and having a good time, we devote an entire weekend to a worthy cause.”
This event shows the campus, the city and the nation that fraternities and sororities have more to offer than just social outings. These organizations are beginning to understand their positions in society, and Minor hopes that more fraternities and sororities, including themselves, will gear more of their events towards philanthropy, he said.