American University sorority raises over $13,000 for Make-A-Wish foundation

Participant of Sand Slam serving the ball while other watch anxiously in the sand
volleyball courts of American University in Washington, D.C Sept.9, 2014
(Photo by Federica Degwitz)

Sunday Sept. 9,2014 American University sorority, Chi Omega hosted the 7^th annual Sand Slam to raise money for charity. The event consisted of a beach volleyball tournament on the sand volleyball course of American University.

Each team signed up prior to the day of the event and paid $50 each to participate in the tournament.

Chi omega offered food and drinks with the help of some sponsors such as Honest Tea, Bloo Moo, Sweet Green, Uncle Julios, Z Burger, Angelicos & many more. The event attracted over 300 participants from American University and the Washington D.C. community. Everything went smoothly, the people seem to enjoy the sand volleyball, spending a sunny day with their friends, and most importantly donating money to a good cause.

Chi Omega officially declared The Make-A-Wish Foundation the fraternity's national philanthropy in 2002. With Chi Omega's help, The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants over 700 wishes per year to terminally ill children.

Participant and sorority sister Amal Salem said “we ended up raising over $13,000 between team signups, t-shirts we sold, food we sold at the event, raffle tickets, and the donations we got from our online page.” She also said “the Chi Omega sisters are so proud of today’s accomplishment, we never thought we were actually going to raise that much money. It has been a record breaking event and we are all so excited and pleased with everyone who participated.”

During the event, Chi Omega arranged a bracket for the day of so everything would go smoothly which it did. Even though it looked like there was a lot of competition in the volleyball court between teams. The second round played was almost a tie. All the spectators were jumping and screaming cheering for their team.

At the end of the event, the Chi Omega sisters agreed that the event had been a success and that they couldn’t wait for next year. Hoping that each year they would raise more and more money for the Make-A-Wish foundation.