Derby Days is Fun Way to Support Good Cause

In April Delta Delta held its first Derby Days with outside participation in two years due to COVID restrictions. This philanthropy teams our brothers with several sororities to raise money for cancer research.

Through the active contributions from all those involved, Delta Delta raised just under $25,000.  With corporate matching from an alumnus, the final total increase to $70,000. These funds go towards Sigma Chi’s national initiative to raise $20 million for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Since 2005 Sigma Chi has raised $16,102,950 towards this cause.

The Huntsman Cancer Foundation funds efforts to better understand how cancer starts and how to more effectively treat cancer to help relieve the suffering and improve the quality of life for cancer patients, survivors, and their families.  Significant Sig Jon Huntsman, Sr., and his wife, Karen, founded Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) in 1995 to accelerate the work of curing cancer through human genetics. Mr. Huntsman’s early contributions to HCI amounted to $225 million. HCI is now one of America’s major cancer centers dedicated to finding a cure.

Annual Charity Fundraiser

Derby Days is an annual charity fundraiser hosted by Sigma Chi Fraternity nationwide. All of the traditional sororities on campus compete in a weeklong event to raise money for one or all of Sigma Chi’s three official charities: the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Children’s Miracle Network, and the Sigma Chi Foundation.

One of the sororities with their Sig captains celebrating a victory.

How Delta Delta Participates

Delta Delta brothers spend a lot of time leading up to the actual Derby Day’s events soliciting contributions from family, friends and alumni.  Special email messages are sent to Delta Delta alumni encouraging them to support an undergrad brother in raising funds for Derby Days.

Derby Days is a week long event where Delta Delta teams up with Purdue sororities to hold a number of fun activities to encourage the sororities to raise donations through their chapters in support of the Derby Days goal.  These events include Coin Wars, dodge ball, tug-of-war, corn hole and a talent show.   After a two-year break, we had great participation from our sororities, and everyone had a fun time supporting a great cause.

Derby Days chairs Ian Streeper ’23 and Cameron Cole ’24 took charge of setting up the event through Purdue, promoting it throughout the university, reaching out for additional donations, and coordinating the events each day. Our Alumni Relations committee of Sam Spears ’23 and Brad Bolles ’25 reached out to recent grads to find corporate donation matching opportunities.

Below are photos of several of the Derby Days events that took place.

Tug of War Competition

Dodge Ball Competition

Sororities competed to see how much they could raise in the Coin Wars competition

Corn Hole Competition