The WSU Greek Council decided to continue a service tradition that started last semester called Casino Night and Food Drive. The event was held in the new residence hall located southeast of Promontory Tower with Black Jack, Texas Hold ‘Em and Roulette tables evenly spaced out on the second and third floors of the building. The food that was donated will be given to the WSU student food bank, Weber Cares.
Students were given $15 in free chips to use on the casino games and an additional $10 for every canned food item brought to the event. The Casino Night held last semester ended up taking in 1,300 pounds of canned food for Weber Cares, and the Greek Council hopes this event exceeded that amount.
“The Greeks every year pick a particular charity that they want to focus on, and they know a lot of students that are having a hard time paying for school alone and trying to eat, and so they decided to focus on Weber Cares this year,” said Jeannie Gamble, sorority adviser and marketing coordinator of housing.
Each table had a member of the sorority or fraternity as the dealer, who also helped students understand the games and get involved.
Alex Workman, Greek Council president, dealt her cards with confidence at the Black Jack table. She said she was confident about the Greek Council and their involvement in the community.
“Raising money and donating food to Weber Cares is definitely showing our local community that we really do care, and that we aren’t just about partying like typical sororities and fraternities,” she said.
Matt Krogman, secretary of the fraternity, was in charge of getting the Roulette table ready, and said why the fraternity wanted to help with the food drive.
“A food drive is a popular way to attract people and have fun on campus,” he said. “It also helps with Weber Cares, and a lot of us eat off that too.”
Krogman and Workman are not alone in saying they feel good about helping Weber Cares.
“It’s a good way to welcome people back on campus,” said Ross Walker, president of the fraternity. He also explained that Weber Cares is for everyone, and that students at times do not get paid enough and need to use Weber Cares.
Izzy Tellez and Chase Sullins, WSU students who were getting ready to play a game of Texas Hold ‘Em, also said they feel good about serving Weber Cares. Tellez said that he attended the event because he is interested in joining the fraternity and was happy that “they aren’t just taking money in and using it for themselves; they are using it to help someone else.”
Sullins also said that this was a good cause.
“It makes me feel good that someone is going to eat tonight, because I have been hungry before!” he said.
Allison Hayes, assistant director of residence, said that not only was this event for fundraising, but also to help students get involved on campus.
“It is a pretty easy event to throw together,” she said. “The students get to have good clean fun, no alcohol, no drugs, and it gives them something to do . . . (and) we thought it would be good to show off our new building.”
Students, housing and Weber Cares were all able to benefit from Casino Night, and the Greek Council has plans to continue helping students get involved throughout the semester.