Beta, Greeks raise $5,000 for Cancer Society

Eight sororities and two fraternities danced their way into raising more than $5,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Beta Theta Pi put on its third annual "Beta's Best Dance Crew" competition on Feb. 16 at the Venue. Delta Delta Delta won the competition.      

More than 1,000 people gathered to watch the competing sororities and fraternities perform three-minute choreographed dance routines for the crowd. The annual event was more than an opportunity for Greeks to show off their best dance moves — it also raised a record amount of money.

"The event consisted of different ways for teams to fundraise for the ACS and earn points for their team," said Jared Greenbaum, an advertising/public relations major of Beta.

Teams earned points through T-shirt sales, direct donations and their score on the dance routine. The groups were charged a $50 entry fee to participate in the dance competition.

This year's donation more than doubled the amount of money raised from the inaugural event in 2009.

"I am always blown away by how creative UCF students can get with their fundraising," said Jenna Bonazinca, a community representative of the ACS. "This is another example of how amazing things happen when people get together for a good cause."

Bonazinca was also one of the judges on the dance competition.

"Dancing is such a huge passion of mine so sharing it with my Delta sisters was the best," said Fabiola Pachas of the winning Tri-Delta team. Pachas said her sorority funraised by asking locally for donations and selling T-shirts.

The ACS is a nationwide, community-based health organization whose mission is to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. There were 107,000 new cancer cases reported in Florida alone this past year and an estimated 40,880 cancer-related deaths, according to ACS's website.

When the group was founded in 1913, the outlook on survival was dim and cancer was rarely mentioned publicly. The ACS founders took the matter into their own hands to raise public awareness of the disease.

The ACS has $1 billion in resources a year to save lives and search to find a cure.

"The American Cancer Society was chosen because, as an organization, we know that cancer affects everyone," Greenbaum said. "It has hit close to home with multiple brothers of our chapter."

"Beta's Best Dance Crew" is just one of many events that are happening at UCF to raise money and awareness for the ACS. The next event involving the ACS will be at the end of March when UCF hosts Greek Week, a weeklong fundraising effort.

More than 40 Greek organizations will be competing in activities throughout the week to raise money for the ACS. The events will culminate with the teams participating in Relay for Life on April 1 and 2 at Memory Mall.

"The mission of Greek Week is to better the UCF Campus and Greek Community through service, entertainment, and philanthropy," Greenbaum said. "The official philanthropy for Greek Week is Relay for Life, which is a program of the American Cancer Society."

Greek Week teams participating in Relay for life will earn points toward their score by raising money for the ACS. The teams earn 50 points for raising $1,000 and one point for every $10 after that.

There will be additional fundraising opportunities happening at the event including food, face painting, crafts and more.