Beach Bash raises funds for diabetes research

With music in the air and the grill sizzling, Friday afternoon was filled with energy at Delta Tau Delta’s Beach Bash philanthropy event.

Students sat in the house lawn, some watching, others waiting for their turn to compete for beach volleyball glory.

Delt’s annual fall philanthropy event featured a beach volleyball tournament and a cookout for those in attendance. Teams paid a $30 entrance fee, with all funds raised going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Delt also sold t-shirts and bracelets to help raise awareness and funds.

“For us the biggest goal was to raise awareness for our cause,” said junior Tad Bustin, Delt’s philanthropy chair and the organizer of this year’s and last year’s events. He said 14 teams competed and they raised between $400-$500. Both these numbers were around the same as last year, but Delt members did notice more students in attendance overall.

While this year’s bash had many similarities, there were some new things Delt did differently. Due to predictions of a rainy Saturday, they decided to reschedule to Friday from 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

“Even though we had to reschedule, I think that ended up working out better for us.” Bustin said. “A lot of the students that came out said it was more convenient to attend after classes rather than noon Saturday. We also avoided conflict with Saturday’s block party, so the weather ended up being a blessing in disguise for us.”

Sigma Phi Epsilon won the tournament, defending their title from last year. After the tournament concluded, Delt hosted a dance party.

According to Delt Vice President Taimur Elahi, food point donations were collected at the door during the dance party. They won’t be converted directly to cash for JDRF, but will be used on food for future philanthropy events.

“Delt always has this event really well organized,” said junior attendee Miranda Ames, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. “As someone who knows the struggle that goes into planning a philanthropy event, we appreciated how smoothly it was run.”

Bustin said raising awareness can be more of a challenge than expected.

“Hopefully next year we can promote even more and at the bash itself put more of a focus on promoting JDRF,” he said. “While I’m glad everyone had a good time, it will be even better to couple that enjoyment with awareness.”