Greeks and non-Greeks alike gathered on Nickerson Field Saturday to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness at Kick for a Cure.
The kickball tournament, co-organized by the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, was one of this semester's first philanthropy events.
More than 15 10-person teams battled in four-inning kickball games from 2 to 6 p.m. Each team contributed $50 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which dedicates money to education and research for breast cancer causes, treatment and cures.
"The hardest part was probably just the logistics of everything," said College of Communication junior Brittany Kang, who was sporting last year's "Save Second Base" T-shirt.
From reserving Nickerson field to advertising and designing T-shirts, Kang and three other Kappa Sigma and Gamma Phi Beta members worked hard to orchestrate the event, Kang said.
"Setting up for the day and getting all the prizes together also proved difficult," said Kappa Sigma spokesman and School of Management junior Corey Beck.
Kickball participants put lot of effort and passion into raising money, Kang said.
"I know for a lot of the girls in the sorority, the issue of breast cancer really hits home," she added.
Two members of Jillies, a non-profit foundation dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness, also attended the tournament. The Jillies representatives set up a booth where they provided refreshments to athletes and breast cancer information to all attendees.
"We're here to provide information to young women, so they make healthy choices to try to prevent breast cancer," said Jillies representative Margie Lipshutz. "We're giving away bags with information on proper self-examinations."
"It's just really cool seeing the teams get competitive," Kang said. "Our president, Annie Thorn, got really into it, hand-picking her teammates."
But not all teams were as prepared.
"We just kind of showed up and gave it our all," said College of Engineering freshman Connor McEwen.
Despite their lack of practice, however, McEwen's team won the tournament's first game.
McEwen said he enjoyed taking part in a Greek Life event.
"As a freshman, I get to see what Greek Life is like and get to hang out with cool upperclassmen," he said.
"We tried really hard to get outside Greek participation, encouraging each girl to bring two non-Greeks," said SMG senior and Gamma Phi Beta member Stephanie Moss.
All winning teams received gift cards.
Though this is only the second Kick for a Cure, Kappa Sigma and Gamma Phi Beta leaders said they plan on making it an annual event.
"It's kickball!" Beck said. "It's simple, it's easy, it's fun and that's really how the best philanthropy is done."
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