Sigma Chi Raises Record-Breaking Philanthropy Total with Derby Days

The Psi Psi Chapter of Sigma Chi raised a record-breaking $68,000 for charity during its annual Derby Days this year. All of the money will be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network.

A nationwide tradition hosted by individual chapters of Sigma Chi, Derby Days consists of a weeklong variety of events and fundraisers engaging all of the sororities on the Syracuse campus to raise money for charity in the spirit of friendly competition.

As the week progresses, each sorority wins points for participating in Derby Days challenges. At the end of the week, the sorority with the highest number of points is awarded $1,000 to the philanthropy of its choice. This year’s winner was the Rho Chapter of Delta Gamma.

“Our Derby Days chairs, Patrick Feeney and Sam Mooney, did a fantastic job in the weeks prior and during the week to make Derby Days into what it became,” says Sigma Chi President Michael Howard. “The time they spent making sure Derby Days worked was paramount to our success. They deserve a lot of recognition for their efforts. Shelanda Duncan, our fraternity and sorority affairs advisor, has become one of our best friends as a chapter. Her help in getting everything set up made this week possible.”

Events for the week were as follows:

• Monday began with a Venmo/Penny Wars event, which has historically brought in the majority of donations for the week. This year was no exception; the day ended with $52,000 in donations, far surpassing the previous overall record of nearly $27,000. The second event of the day was an Instagram competition among sororities to raise awareness about the week’s events. Howard says the participating sororities deserve all the credit for making the first day so successful.
• Tuesday’s events continued to raise awareness and donations through the “Sign a Sig” challenge during the day and a philanthropic auction at night. Members of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs were in attendance, and Howard says working with them played a huge role in the week’s success.
• Wednesday featured a clothing drive and a candlelight vigil for sexual assault awareness in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
• To round out the week, Thursday featured a dance competition, and Delta Gamma was announced as the week’s winner.

“Chapter leadership and Derby Days chairmen have worked so hard this year to get everything organized to make this year’s event so successful. This was my first time experiencing Derby Days and I was slightly overwhelmed, but ultimately blown away. Sigma Chi is one of our highest fundraising chapters across the six councils and this year they more than doubled their anticipated goal, making them our highest of the year. I am beyond proud of the work the men of Sigma Chi have done this year and feel lucky to be their advisor,” says Duncan.

To learn more about Derby Days, visit Sigma Chi’s website.