ZTA Wins TKE Week 2022

Emily Logue

April 2022

FOR THE KIDS! Two weeks ago, Zeta Tau Alpha participated in TKE’s philanthropy week, TKE Week, benefiting St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and won! As a chapter we raised a total of $32,077 in five days, adding to a grand total of $253,380 raised during TKE Week 2022.

The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity began its partnership with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 1972. The founder of St. Jude, Danny Thomas, was also a member of TKE at the University of Toledo. Danny was an entertainer and comedian following his time at Toledo. He is known for having one of the most successful, and long-running comedy shows, The Danny Thomas Show.

Danny made a promise while he was in college that if he ever got famous, he would open a hospital. Following his time at Toledo, Danny was struggling to find work. He turned to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes, and said “show me the way in life, and I will build you a shrine.” Soon after, Danny began finding employment which jump started his entertainment career. He used his newfound fame and decided he wanted to change the lives of children and families forever. In 1962, St. Jude opened in Memphis, Tenn.

In 2011, TKE committed to raising $1 million dollars in five years. They completed this mission a year early. In February 2016, they announced a commitment to raise $2.6 million in six years. They completed this mission on April 9, 2019, three years early. In August 2019, TKE made a commitment to raise $10 million, in 10 years.

The Xi Omega chapter of TKE at Virginia Tech has been the biggest fundraising chapters for years. Between TKE Week 2021 and 2022, the Xi Omega chapter has raised over half a million dollars for St. Jude’s, and over one million dollars within the past five years.

This year’s TKE Week was the first time it was fully in-person following many mandates lifted due to COVID-19 which ignited so much energy. A huge shout out to Nick Petta, Nate Van de Meulebroecke, and Charlie Rabena for being the best coaches, and for getting us beyond excited to take on something much bigger than ourselves.

With the help of our coaches, TKE created a Facebook group and a GroupMe that allowed our whole chapter to be involved. They kept us informed and up to date with new opportunities to raise money and bring awareness. Our coaches also brought our attention to different things that St. Jude does and where we could make an impact. We learned about different kids’ stories and what St. Jude’s has done for them, how much money it takes to run St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital daily, and what the impact our donations are making.

Our coaches offered different point opportunities throughout the week to allow us to keep our first-place position on the leaderboard against other campus organizations. Some of the ways we raised money was through posting bingo boards, creating individual fundraising pages on the St. Jude page, and matching each other’s donations.

On the last night of TKE week, ZTA raised over $10,000 in three hours through matching one another’s donations. Huge shout out to Emma Guido, Mady Ragano, and Giuliana Bertolotti for being our top individual fundraisers.

Having this year’s TKE Week be the first fully in-person philanthropy week since 2019, TKE put on so many events that they haven’t been able to do previously. There was a percentage night at Jersey Mike’s, donation booths set up outside Turner and Newman, a volleyball tournament, a TikTok challenge, and lastly, a Battle of the Bands competition.

Our favorite event that TKE hosted during TKE Week was the Battle of the Bands competition. This was a friendly competition amongst four bands to raise money for St. Jude’s. The four bands were, The Chimpanzees and Cigarettes, Parotia, Piper’s Gate, and Patty Carver. There were food trucks, donation booths, and a dunk tank that was set up for the spectators. Halfway through the event, many of the brothers of TKE decided to collect money from the people around to shave their heads. Four brothers collected over $1,000 on the spot and all had their brothers shave their heads. This event was so much fun with so much to do, all supporting an amazing cause.

One amazing thing that came out of this whole week, on top of all the money we raised, was seeing how excited girls were getting for our own philanthropy this upcoming spring and fall. It was amazing to see our whole chapter working towards one goal.

Ella Mullins, PC ’22, said, “with this being my first year participating in an organization’s philanthropy, I quickly saw how hard we went for TKE Week and how much fun it was to see all our hard work pay off once we were announced as the winners. It made me so much more excited for our philanthropy week because I know all the girls will go even harder. I’m so excited to see what we can do!”

TKE week wasn’t about trying to get the most points or to win the whole thing, but rather it was to bring awareness and raise money for the kids at St. Jude’s. These kids have gone through things that many of us can’t imagine having to experience. Our donations are helping them and their families out in so many ways.

We wouldn’t have been able to become the top fundraising organization in the history of TKE Week without the guidance and encouragement from our coaches.

Nate Van de Meulebroecke said, “TKE as an organization is very appreciative of every organization participating in TKE Week, but ZTA blows us away every year. To them it’s more than just helping us out - these women really care about raising money for St. Jude’s and saving lives. Charlie, Nick, and I are so happy about what we’ve accomplished this year. There was never a dull moment for us as a team. From the social media involvement to the constant GroupMe notifications, and of course the victory swim in the duck pond. I personally want to thank each and every ZTA who put up with us and gave it their all during TKE Week!”

Nick Petta said, “Every year people strive to be chosen as one of the coaches for ZTA. I was ecstatic when I found out I was going to be one of the coaches this year. People who are participating in their first TKE Week are often puzzled as to why everyone goes head over heels to become one of ZTA’s coaches. That sense of confusion quickly fades once they see all the amazing work that ZTA does.

ZTA’s participation and drive during TKE Week is beyond comparison. It is a perfect example of a sorority giving 100% effort for the cause rather than to become closer to TKE. The group chat is always active with people asking others to match their donation or people giving motivation to the whole group. It is comparable to the group chats we have as a fraternity or the conversations we have during chapter. The social media participation was also something that amazed me. There was nonstop advocacy for St. Jude ‘s whenever I was on Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook. The thing that was the most astonishing was the reaction after TKE Week was over. Jumping in the Duck Pond is normally something that is a struggle for even a single brother to offer to do, but not the ZTAs! There were around 15 ZTAs that jumped, and numerous others that came to support. This all happened before the final sorority rankings came out which is a testament to the fact that their priority is the cause. ZTA’s showed true motivation to support St Jude.

I am extremely honored that I was able to be a ZTA coach. I would like to say that I had a role in the sorority donation record of $22,000 being broken by $10,000 but the truth is ZTA is solely to acknowledge for that accomplishment. I cannot thank everyone in ZTA enough for their passion and drive throughout TKE Week.”