“Do you want to donate to Habitat for Humanity?” freshman business major Justin Usher questioned while holding out a large tin can with the words “Grand Slam” on it as I walked by him in the Library Quad.

“What?” I asked. He and junior business major Lorenzo Montelongo said the Chi Delta sorority is doing its annual philanthropy, or community service event, on campus. The event is titled “Grand Slam.” All proceeds from the coin drive will go to Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit group that builds houses for those who can’t afford to buy a home.

This is the first year in the sorority’s philanthropy history that it has chosen Habitat for Humanity as its charity organization. Senior criminal justice major and member of Chi Delta Stephanie Beam said helping the organization is very meaningful to her sorority.

“In Sacramento, there are a lot of people who don’t have the financial money to take care of their house,” she said. “It’s just a good way to give back to the community.”

Beam said the coin drive will continue for the next three weeks and will culminate in a softball tournament at 9 a.m. on Oct. 28 at Rau Park in Elk Grove. The tournament will include players from all Sacramento State fraternities and sororities.

Although Grand Slam is Chi Delta’s philanthropy, all sororities and fraternities on campus are lending a hand. As an example, Montelongo explained he is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and Usher is currently pledging the same group.

Every sorority and fraternity holds an annual philanthropy and every other Greek group helps out, Beam said.

“Some people do Children’s Miracle Network? that’s just the one we picked,” Beam said, adding that getting other fraternities and sororities involved creates a closer knit Greek population on campus.

“Every fraternity and sorority does philanthropy and they have some type of contest?to get other fraternities involved,” she said. “We try to be more united like that.”

She said every group’s philanthropy takes place at a different time throughout the year, so all fraternity and sorority members have a chance to participate in every event.

Although anyone on campus can donate during philanthropies, events such as the Grand Slam softball game are held specifically for fraternity and sorority members.

“We can try and go outreach the campus, and we’ve tried in the past, but it hasn’t been as successful as we’ve wanted it to be,” Beam said, noting that Greek groups haven’t had a huge amount of support from the campus population.

Still, she said these philanthropies really show other students that fraternities and sororities have a definite purpose.

“We do more than just party; we do good stuff,” she said.

Montelongo agreed these events help students see his fraternity and other groups on campus in a more positive light.

He said philanthropies help erase whatever negative preconceived notions students may have of fraternities and sororities. He also said these events will help Greek students pass down their knowledge of charitable donations to future generations.

If you’d like to donate to Habitat for Humanity, there will be fraternity representatives collecting for the coin drive every day in the Library Quad for the next three weeks. Just look for the jar that says “Grand Slam.”

Bridget Jones can be reached at [email protected]