Participation in sorority and fraternity philanthropies has become staple in many end-of-school-year bucket lists. With the academic year winding down, Greek philanthropy events culminated last week with the Pi Kappa Alpha Fireman’s Challenge and the Sigma Phi Epsilon/Gamma Phi Beta Greek Games.

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity hosted four events throughout the week of Fireman’s Challenge. Teams from 12 sororities participated in a flag football tournament, tug of war, talent show and dodgeball tournament.

“My favorite part of everything was seeing the enthusiasm that everyone showed while competing in the events,” said Ben Jacober, sophomore in Business and Fireman’s Challenge committee member. The week’s events raised a total of $3,500, including T-shirt sales and each sorority’s $250 participation fee. All of the money was donated to the Firefighter’s Charitable Foundation, benefitting victims of fires and supporting the set up of fire safety programs.

“This year there was a huge increase in participation compared to last year and we were really able to see how enthusiastic people were about our philanthropy,” said Jacober.

Last week also marked the first annual Sigma Phi Epsilon and Gamma Phi Beta Greek Games, raising money for the Josh Gottheil Memorial Fund for Lymphoma Research.

Last year, Sigma Phi Epsilon had also paired up with Gamma Phi Beta to organize the “Jog 4 Josh” 5k run/walk.

“We had a really great turnout last year, but this year we wanted to try and do something that would be different and raise even more money,” said Jessica Ponticelli, sophomore in Business and Internal Philanthropy Chair.

The Greek Games consisted of 15 fraternities and 15 sororities who teamed up with each other — primarily based on this year’s football block pairings — to compete in the various events.

“Pairing up with another house is really fun and I don’t think it’s ever been done before,” Ponticelli said. “It’s another reason to hang out and to try even harder to win.”

Last Wednesday started off the games with a tournament of capture the flag, followed by inflatable jousting and bull riding, and ending with a flag football tournament Saturday.

“These philanthropy events bring people back to when they were little,” Ponticelli said. “When else would you just go and play capture the flag?”

A “Gamma Phiesta” taco dinner was also hosted at the Gamma Phi Beta house Friday night.

“We did some serious brainstorming to decide what events would be the most fun and the most fair for both guy and girl participation,” said Alex Zajac, senior in LAS and one of the Sigma Phi Epsilon representatives.

Teams were comprised of seven girls and seven guys, and each individual house donated $150 to participate.

An approximate total of $4,500 was raised through the tournament, compared to the $1,000 earned last year.

“Being a part of the Greek life helps to make the campus a lot smaller,” Zajac said. “And this is a great way for everyone to join together and give back to the community.”