As the semester wraps up here at UCF, people are beginning to enjoy the cooler weather and prepare for the holidays. For the women of Kappa Alpha Theta, it was time for their annual fall philanthropy week.
The Eta Theta chapter is located on campus, and it’s the only sorority to have a house not fully on Greek Row. Being one of the bigger houses, it’s the perfect spot for throwing events, like their philanthropy ones.
Kappa Alpha Theta nationally raises money for National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a program nationally recognized for helping children in foster care or suffering abuse to find a safe place to grow and thrive. In Orlando, Eta Theta fundraises for Seminole County Friends of Abused Children, where they often work with the organization to meet kids and volunteer at their events. An advisor for the nonprofit was also present at the event to meet members of the chapter and join in on the fun.
Camp CASA — both the event name and its concept — is the first of its kind for the chapter. Its novelty drew significant interest, bringing in a large crowd of guests. The event, which took place on Nov. 19, was planned and run by Grace Boll, Vice President of Philanthropy, and Mallory Allen, Vice President of Fundraising.
Hosted in the backyard with country music blaring, Camp CASA had lots of activities, which were all camp-themed, such as build-your-own s’more bags, face-painting, bean bag toss, and — the main competition of the night — gaga-ball. I had never heard of the game before, but the best way to describe it is dodgeball with your feet. Hot dogs, coleslaw, and Celsius drinks were also being distributed for anyone who bought a ticket.
People were also encouraged to pie Thetas, and honestly, pieing anyone is a fan-favorite activity for most people, especially here at UCF, where pieing is a celebrated art form.
It was obvious that this event had a big fraternity turnout, especially during the gaga-ball competition, where Tau Epsilon Phi won overall.
The sisters were as welcoming as ever, all wearing jeans and white shirts with some form of boots or sneakers. Instead of matching shirts like most chapters do, the girls opted for matching green hats, which were quite cute and added to the aesthetic. Most of them were getting their faces painted, playing gaga ball, or simply chatting and playing cards. Though the atmosphere was quite hectic for organizers Allen and Boll, they still managed to have fun too.
In terms of the week’s winners, Alpha Epsilon Phi won for the sororities, and Delta Sigma Phi won for the fraternities and Theta’s first-ever Mr. Casanova competition. Mr. Casanova is also a new competition for the chapter, which allows the fraternities to be recognized for raising money. The organization that wins has two members crowned as ‘Mr. Casanova.’
For the amount of money raised overall, the girls managed to make a little over $8,000 this week, but throughout the semester, they managed to raise almost $20,000 in total, which is quite uncommon among sororities for smaller-scale events. This speaks to the impact the women of Theta have here on campus.
Congratulations to Theta on such a successful event. I cannot wait to see what you choose to do next year!