Two of Sacramento State’s fraternities and one sorority made its contribution to raise money for the awareness and prevention of drunk driving at “Strides for Change,” a walk against drunk driving hosted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, on Saturday.

Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Sigma formed walk teams to help raise money for MADD. Tau Kappa Epsilon was also at the event.Danielle Warfield of Gamma Phi Beta said it was important to get involved in the community and contribute back to Sacramento.

“We try to get involved in as many things as possible,” Warfield said. “Definitely, it’s a big issue with college students,” she said about raising the awareness of drunk driving and its dangers. With 2,000 walkers at the event, MADD raised $18,000. The organization already had $75,301 raised prior to the walk.

“The goal was 95,000. It looks like we’ll hit it,” said Kendal Person, director of fundraising for MADD.

The money raised will be MADD’s budget for 2006. The money is used as a budget in order to provide MADD members and victims with programs for free.

Person said the purpose of the event was not only to raise money, but also to bring awareness, “or rather the dangers of drunk driving.”

The participants of the walk got sponsors and donations from friends, family and colleagues to raise money for the organization.

Other programs raised money by different types of fundraisers. Rosemont High School sold candy in order to raise money and another organization sold wristbands, Person said.

The event began at 8:30 a.m. and lasted until noon. Besides the walk, the event featured live entertainment from entertainment artist G.R., a martial arts demonstration and a performance from the Sacramento Youth Symphony.

The event also featured carnival games for children and various booths of sponsors as well as organizations contributing to the event’s safety fair, sponsored by AAA. Some of the organizations at the event were California Family Fitness, Sacramento High Tech Task Force, CHP, and Kovar’s Martial Arts.

Vehicles of drunk driving victims were also displayed to show the impact of the dangers of drunk driving.

“Just seeing the families that were affected by drunk driving was heart-wrenching and emotional,” Warfield said. “It gives you perspective how precious life is.”

Person said he hoped that the those who attended the event would leave with an increased awareness of the dangers of drunk driving.

“Your chance to make a decision about how to get home safely is before you drink,” Person said. “We pretty much know before (we leave) if we’re drinking and if we make plans before we arrive we could save lives.

A designated driver, taxis, all those things can save a life.”

Fraternities and sororities do have programs to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking within their organizations.

Loren Kaplan, president of Tau Kappa Epsilon, said that the fraternity has a program to prevent drunk driving. When members of the fraternity go out to the bars or events and cannot drive home, they can call a cab and will get reimbursed for the cost through the program, Kaplan said.

The fraternity also discourages drinking alcoholic beverages at philanthropic gatherings. At social events, the fraternity does its best to prevent underage drinking. “We use wristbands, especially at venues,” said Kaplan. “It makes it harder in terms of taking a wristband off and handing it to someone else (who’s under age).”

Warfield said Gamma Phi Beta has enrichment programs where alcohol consumption is discussed. The sorority will bring outside sources, like someone from MADD, to raise the awareness of drinking alcohol responsibly.

MADD’s walk against drunk driving is a national annual event. Twenty-one cities nationwide participate in the event, but the walks aren’t simultaneous.

Nika Megino can be reached at [email protected]