Wingman fundraisers soar

The week also included a spaghetti dinner and penny wars, hosted by Kappa Delta.

By Gwen Daniels

Published March 18, 2008

Hot sauce-soaked students combated mental disease by loading up on hot wings this weekend.

Kappa Delta sorority hosted their third annual Wingman competition Saturday.

The competition benefited the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center, a psychiatric health clinic located in Columbia, and Kappa Delta sorority’s national philanthropies, including Girl Scouts of the USA, Prevent Child Abuse America, the Children’s Hospital, Pediatric Specialty Care of Richmond, Va., and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Research Awards.

Wingman combined hot sauce and chicken wings with Olympic Games-style events.

The day started with the “All You Can Eat” event.

“It gets the games moving on a really high note,” Kappa Delta sorority spokeswoman Laura Ponath said. “It’s really high energy, and every team is involved. Whoever wins that gets bragging rights for the rest of the day.”

The game “How Hot Can You Handle It?” challenged competitors to eat as many as fiery hot wings as possible, said Ashley Horn, Kappa Delta sorority Internal Philanthropy Co-Chairwoman.

Other popular events were variations of party games, including “Wing Pong” and “Flip Cup,” which used shots of extra-hot barbeque sauce, Horn said.

The competition also included games like a balloon toss and a tug-of-war finale.

Twenty-one teams from 17 organizations signed up for the event, although the rain deterred a few participants from coming, Ponath said.

Kappa Delta sorority members helped out by leading teams and refereeing the games.

“They would keep thing pumped up especially with the miserable weather, keep everyone’s spirit and keep the games running,” Ponath said.

Kappa Delta sorority member freshman Paije Davidson said she enjoyed refereeing the “Bob for Wings” game.

“It was so slippery, and everyone was falling all over the ground,” Davidson said. “One guy spilled the bowl of wings, and he picked them up with his mouth and put them back in the bowl.”

In the end, the rain made for even more fun, Horn said.

“The field was a huge mud pit, but it added to the fun,” she said. “A lot of the guys liked getting really dirty in the mud.”

Local businesses and Kappa Delta sorority alumni donated money for the event, said Brittany Crosby, Kappa Delta sorority Internal Philanthropy Co-Chairwoman.

Several restaurants, like Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings and Fieldhouse also donated wings, Crosby added.

Throughout the week, Kappa Delta sorority played host to several other events benefiting charities across the country.

Eighty percent of the proceeds went toward the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center, Ponath said.

The remaining 20 percent of the proceeds from the events benefited Kappa Delta sorority’s national philanthropies.

The sorority held their third annual spaghetti dinner March 9 at the Kappa Delta sorority house.

About 800 guests came for homemade spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread, Ponath said.

Tickets to the spaghetti dinner were available for $5 at the door and generated about $4,000 for the philanthropies, she added.

The line extended out the door as guests waited for plates of spaghetti.

Ponath said the dinner gives MU students and community members the chance to sample the group’s delicious spaghetti.

“Our wonderful in-house chefs cook their favorite spaghetti, which we as a chapter get to enjoy as a regular basis, but this one time throughout the year we get to share it with the community,” she said. “It’s their chance to see the beautiful work the staff puts into this.”

Kappa Delta sorority members help out with the dinner as well, working in shifts to greet guests, serve drinks, clear tables and wash dishes, Horne said.

Kappa Delta sorority also sponsored a penny war for the first time this year.

Participating organizations competed by collecting coins in buckets at a table set up in front of the Kappa Delta sorority house.

Teams gained points by placing pennies in their own team’s bucket and sabotaged others by putting nickels, dimes, quarters and bills in other teams’ buckets, Ponath said.

Each penny counted as one point, but other coins were worth negative points equal to their monetary value.

“That was incredibly successful,” Ponath said. “It was interesting to see how many fraternities had whole dollar bills in their buckets, which ended up being negative 100 points.”

Horn said another group brought in a 25-pound bag of pennies.

“It went a lot better than we expected and it turned out really well,” she added.

Kappa Delta sorority hosted a fundraiser on Thursday at Chevys Fresh Mex to benefit their philanthropies as well.

Donating was as easy as ordering dinner. Fifteen percent of the profits from all sales went to the philanthropies.

Ponath called the week an incredible success.

“The amount of support was overwhelming,” she said. “We totally loved it. It was really good experience for everyone involved.”