Two local greek chapters are about to take their best shots at helping the United Way.
The fraternity Sigma Tau Gamma and sorority Chi Omega are co-sponsoring a three-on-three basketball tournament Sunday to help this year’s fund raising drive. All together, 21 teams have signed up to compete, which is just about where the organizers wanted it.
“Twenty-four teams was about the maximum we could have,” said Brian Bina of Sigma Tau Gamma, the event’s coordinator. “After that, it would have to be a two-day tournament.”
The tournament runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the student recreation center at Emporia State University. Admission is free, although raffle tickets will be sold for $1 each. The competitors are all ESU students, staff or faculty.
The event came about because of the success of Sigma’s “snowball softball” tournament held in late February or early March each year to support children’s literacy. This year’s softball matchup raised around $2,500, a feat which did not go unnoticed by United Way director Duane Dreiling.
Dreiling asked the fraternity if its members could put on another event, later in the year, for the United Way campaign. Softball didn’t quite fit, the guys decided, but basketball was a natural.
“We thought three-on-three basketball would be something that would get a lot of people involved,” Bina said.
Each of the 14 men’s teams and seven women’s teams consists of three starters and a substitute. Between the $30 entry fees, plus some tournament T-shirt and raffle ticket sales, the event has raised about $700 so far.
The United Way drive is trying to raise at least $600,000 before the end of 2006. To date, Dreiling said, $519,479 has been pledged.
“I feel optimistic that we’re on track, but there’s still some concern to make sure we’re getting the message out about what United Way is all about,” Dreiling said.
Funds raised in the drive are shared between 25 local agencies. By using United Way as a middleman, Dreiling said, those groups don’t have to spend as much of their own budgets or staff time on fund raising.
Individual contributions generally range from $1 a paycheck to a few thousand a year. Corporate donations can get bigger, although some of the larger givers, such as Wal-Mart, are still waiting on the results of their national drives.
Bina, meanwhile, said he was satisfied with the amount raised by the tournament so far.
“It’s not quite as big as snowball softball, but it’s a start,” he said.