Members of Lyon College’s Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter, or TKE, recently announced that they had the honor of joining TKE’s prestigious $5,000 Club and were recognized at the TKE Conclave in Houston, Texas. Lyon College’s chapter worked diligently over the past year to help raise money to donate to its main philanthropy, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with the final amount totaling $5,405.
“Our organization chose St. Jude as our primary philanthropy as one of the fraternity’s alumni, Danny Thomas, founded the hospital in hopes of helping all children with illnesses who may not have the financial ability to get the care they need,” said Zachary Nohr, Lyon College senior and TKE Philanthropy Chairman.
Nohr said that Lyon College’s chapter has been holding both individual and group fundraising events for St. Jude. Some of the bigger events like Dunk TKE, Shave for St. Jude, and the TKE St. Jude Charity Livestream helped to create a fun atmosphere while encouraging donations for a great cause.
Dunk TKE allowed donors to pay to dunk the brothers of TKE in an ice-filled dunk tank. The TKE Charity Livestream was a new event this year where TKE brothers live streamed video games for 12 hours straight on Twitch and Facebook. Shave for St. Jude has participants shave off their hair and auction it off based on donation goals.
“My favorite fundraising event is Shave for St. Jude as it allows us to help raise money for the hospital and show solidarity with the children at the hospital by shaving our heads,” said Nohr.
With all of the various fun and inviting events, it’s no surprise that the College’s TKE chapter soared to new heights with its fundraising goals.
“While we have raised money for St. Jude for decades, the amount we have raised as a chapter this last year is new,” said Nohr. “The $5,000 Club is a group of chapters within our fraternity that have raised $5,000 for St. Jude in a year.”
Being a recognized member of the $5,000 Club is an achievement unto itself, but Lyon College’s TKE chapter also being within the top 50 fundraisers, out of 225 total chapters, makes it all the sweeter.
“This has shown that our chapter here at Lyon is able to compete with larger schools when it comes to fundraising for St. Jude,” said Nohr.
The College’s TKE chapter has already raised $1,350 thanks to Chapter President Hunter Perkins and a TKE alum individually raising money for St. Jude over the summer.
“Members of the campus and Batesville community can help us break our previous fundraising total by looking out for our philanthropy events this semester by following our Instagram or donating to St. Jude through our organization,” said Nohr.