By Leah Crawford
Transcript correspondent
lccrawfo@owu.edu
Men and women of the Ohio Wesleyan University community came together this past Saturday to raise money for U.S. troops, and support one of their own.
The brothers of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) hosted a soccer tournament for the students of OWU to participate in called Kick It with Fiji on March 30. The event, benefitting two different organizations, was held in the Edwards Gym due to inclement weather. Each team donated a minimum of $50 to participate with all proceeds being donated to the philanthropic causes.
“Serving others is one of the main principles of Greek Life but especially for Fiji,” Jordan Auriemma, Fiji’s philanthropy chair said.
The event’s purpose was to raise money for The United Services Organization (USO) and the Heidi Steitz educational fund. Franklin D. Roosevelt founded USO in 1941 and it currently assists over 4.9 million members of the military and their families. The donations made to the Heidi Steitz educational fund were made in honor of Heidi Steitz who recently lost her battle with cancer.
“I love my friends in Fiji and it was so thoughtful of them to donate some of their proceeds to my mom’s educational fund,” Kenzie Steitz, a junior in Delta Delta Delta (TriDelta) at OWU said. “It means so much to [me] and my family and we greatly appreciate the generosity of the boys of Phi Gamma Delta.”
Members of both the Greek and Non-Greek communities of OWU were invited to participate. The tournament was held in a round robin style with the semifinals being held at the end of regular play. Then there was the final game where the ladies of Delta Gamma (DG) took home the gold, winning the tournament overall.
“Fiji’s soccer tournament was such a fun event! I loved being able to participate while being surrounded by the Greek community,” DG sophomore Katie Konopka said. “Winning definitely felt good but being able to support someone within our own community was what really mattered.”
TriDelta followed DG in second place and the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) came in third.