By combining food and charity, Phi Kappa Tau fraternity crafted new ideas for THON fundraising amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Phi Kappa Tau’s primary THON chair Tim Bravo said coronavirus restrictions limited what the fraternity can do.
“It was very difficult with the Covid restrictions, especially since we were not allowed to have gatherings over 10 people,” Bravo (junior-criminology) said.
Bravo said the fraternity tried to revive some of its old fundraisers, but it eliminated some for this year’s THON.
Every year, Bravo said the fraternity held a “pie a brother” fundraiser where people would pay $5 to throw a pie at a Phi Kappa Tau brother.
Another fundraiser that proved to be successful in the past but couldn’t be held this year involved dogs and grilling. According to Bravo, anyone could come and play with dogs brought in from a local business while members of the fraternity cooked hotdogs and sold them along with soda and concessions.
Anyone in the area could come to play with the dogs, or simply to enjoy some fresh cooked food. While it couldn’t happen this year, Muthu Nagesh, Phi Kappa Tau’s secondary THON chair, said it was one of his favorite fundraisers.
“The dog fundraiser is always my favorite, and it is usually one of our most successful fundraisers, so it was very upsetting that we didn’t get to do that one,” Nagesh (senior-engineering) said.
But, the fraternity worked through the atypical situation.
To safely fundraise, Phi Kappa Tau offered discounts at local restaurants when large groups placed an order.
“We had a wide array of businesses that were willing to help out — Weirdoughs Pizza, Texas Roadhouse, Yallah Taco, things like that,” Nagesh said.
The turnout for these events, Nagesh said, ended up being better than expected. Of all the restaurants, the fundraiser event with Yallah Taco was the most successful.
“We had a great turnout for that — people love their food, so we had a lot of success with that one,” Bravo said. “That was definitely our biggest fundraiser this year.”
More from THON
By Matt DiSanto, Daily Collegian
At the end of a long and unprecedented weekend, every THON dancer, volunteer, supporter, and organization deserves a pat on the back for displaying such dedication.
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority led all organizations by raising a combined $322,346.80. Meanwhile, Springfield topped special interest orgs with $100,767.64.
Greek Orgs
5. Pi Beta Phi/Sigma Phi Epsilon — $142,890.15
4. Gamma Phi Beta/Acacia — $176,843.71
3. Pi Kappa Alpha/Kappa Alpha Theta — $180,530.76
2. Alpha Omicron Pi/Phi Kappa Psi — $252,530.51
1. Alpha Tau Omega/Zeta Tau Alpha — $322,346.80
