The 07-08 academic year proved to be yet another successful year for the men of Pi Kappa Alpha at UT and their efforts to give back to the community.  With an array of new events and continuing on with traditional events, the men of Pi Kappa Alpha made great strides as being one of the most charitable organizations on UT's campus.  Here are some of the highlights from this last year:

Dance Marathon 2008 (Over $6,000 rose by Pi Kappa Alpha)

Dance Marathon is the largest philanthropy on UT's campus.  It is a 16 hour event that runs overnight at the rec center.  At this event, Dancers learn a line dance throughout the night, are provided with entertainment, and enjoy a lot of free food to help get through the night.  Overall it is a huge charity event that does great things for UT's reputation and the Children's Miracle Network.

2008 marked the most successful year of Dance Marathon and the men of Pi Kappa Alpha played a significant role in making this happen.  To start, 6 men of Pike were on the executive board of about 30 students who plan and coordinate the event and anything behind the scenes.  When the day of the event came, the men of Pike showed up in force.  We had 50 men participating in the event, which was by far the most out of any other organization on campus.  We also rose more money than any other group on campus for the 2nd year in a row.

Dance Marathon is important to UT and to Pike and we make sure to put everything we can into it each and every year.

5k for the Kids - Halloween Run ($1,200 rose for DM)

Over the past few year there have been many talks about starting a 5k race that was open to the community with the purpose of raising money for the Children's Miracle Network and UT's Dance Marathon.  In 2007 the men of Pike made this a reality as we set up our 1st 5k for the Kids.

This event took much planning to make sure that it would kick off as a success.  We had to do a lot of promotion through Toledo RoadRunners magainze (the main source for 5k runs in NW Ohio) and through our website.  After setting up all of the logistics it just came down to waiting for race day to come.  In the end everything paid off as over 100 runners helped us make the 1st year for this event successful.  It was very well-received by the running community and we anticipate even bigger and better things in the future.

2007 DM Halloween Bash ($1,300 rose for DM)

This last year marked the 2nd year of our DM Halloween Bash to generate money for the Children's Miracle Network and UT's Dance Marathon.  Like the year before, it was a party that was open to the campus and transportation was provided by Pi Kappa Alpha to and from the Bijou (where the event was being held).

It was another successful year for the event and all that attended had a blast! It is definitely a tradition that we are going to build on in the future.

Pike Presents (Over $800 in presents donated)

This event was yet another new event for the men of Pi Kappa Alpha.  Around the country there are many Pike chapters that put on this event and it seemed like it would be a great opportunity for our men to give back in a fun and fulfilling way.

This event was held at Roseary Catholic Elementary School and it consisted of our chapter adopting a 3rd grade class.  The students all filled out wish lists and we what we could to get each kid something that he or she would want.  On the day of the event we showed up with presents in hand and gave them to the kids in their classroom.  It was an amazing event and this next year we are going to expand it by adopting more classes.

Philanthropy Dinners (Over $1,400 rose through various events)

Something that has proven to be very successful among Greeks and others on campus are various philanthropy dinners that are held throughout the year.  The men of Pike are no exception to this and we make a strong effort to put on various dinners each year.

This past year we put on dinners such as Pizza with the Pikes, Pretzels with the Pikes, and Pancakes with the Pikes.  These are generally held from 10 PM to 2 AM on Thursday nights and have shown to be successful over the years.  Overall they provide for a great time for all guests and great food as well.  We will most definitely be carrying these on in the future.

This last year was another successful year for the men of Pi Kappa Alpha in Philanthropy.  Overall, the chapter was able to raise over $16,000 for various charities.  These included the Children's Miracle Network, Toledo Fire Department, the Keith Dressel Memorial Fund, WorldVision, and more! Aside from this, the chapter also put in a total of 6660 community service hours, once again establishing us as the top Fraternity in Philanthropy and Community Service. Thank you to everyone for your help in making last year the best year ever for the EE Chapter in giving back to the community.

Here are some of the major events from this past year:

9-11 Stair-a-thon ($1,100 risen)

This last year marked an exciting come back of an event after a year absence.  This was the Pi Kappa Alpha 9/11 Stair-a-Thon.  This event was held in the Glass Bowl (our football stadium) and was sponsored by Monster energy drinks.  With a sponsor set and a location as well, we were ready to go in getting everything ready to have a successful event.

Finally, the event day had come after summer planning and preparation and it was a beautiful day.  We had news crews out along with a strong crowd of participants.  Each participant received a shirt for taking part in the event as well.  It all turned out to be a success and it created a great image for Pike on UT’s campus along with grabbing the attention of new and old administration.

DM Halloween Bash ($2,400 risen)

This last year the men of Pi Kappa Alpha held the first annual DM Halloween bash to raise money for Dance Marathon and the Children's Miracle Network.

The event was held at Bootleggers, near the University of Toledo, and was the biggest Halloween Bash in Toledo! Over 700 people showed up to party for a good cause! Busses were provided by Pi Kappa Alpha and the party ran all night! It was a great time and we look forward to another huge bash for Halloween 2007

Dance Marathon 2007 (Over $7,000 risen by Pi Kappa Alpha)

This past year was the biggest DM in UT’s history.  Over 400 dancers participated along with a number of security volunteers and moralers to make the night huge.  Among this massive crowd were the men of Pi Kappa Alpha who had 47 men participating in this event, which was over 20 people more than the next highest group.  The men of EE lived up the night and had a blast between learning the dances and interacting with the kids that came in.  At the end of the night when the total was announced, which was over $50,000 this year, they also announced the top organizations.  Pi Kappa Alpha rose more money than any other organization by about $2,000 and was crowned DM Fundraising Champions.  Much of the money was raised through the various events that we hold throughout the year along with a letter writing campaign to families of active members and our alumni.

Pikes at DM

Keith Dressel Memorial Car Wash (Over $2,000 risen)

The morning of February 21 was a sad one for the City of Toledo when a Toledo Police Detective, Keith Dressel, was shot and killed in the line of duty.  Detective Dressel was just 35 years old at the time and had served on the force for 14 years before he was shot by a 15 year old who he had confronted after suspecting a drug deal.  This became a matter of public interest immediately and many tears were shed in memory of Detective Dressel after this disturbing event.

To make things even more upsetting, Detective Dressel also had a wife and two children to whom he was a very loving father to.  In light of this event, the people around Toledo took immediate action to help support his family in this rough time of need.  A series of events to raise money for his children’s college funds arose and the outpour of love was incredible.

The men of EE took notice of this and decided to collaborate with the University of Toledo Police Department to sponsor a car wash to raise money for his step-daughter Sydney’s college fund.  This event took a lot of preparation.  To start, almost every police station in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan were faxed information people about this event.  Also though, radio stations were contacted along with all local news media to cover the event and draw out a crowd.  Because we were working with the UTPD, it was easy to get the location set (a parking lot on the corner of 2 major roads at the University of Toledo).  Once all was set, we invited the ladies of Pi Beta Phi to help us out.

The day of the event ran from 10 AM to 6 PM and all the news media and radio stations came through and gave great publicity of the event that day.  There was no charge for a car wash, but donations were expected and in they did come.  By raising over $2,000 this was a huge success and was a very simple event.  One of the best things about the day was the wife and children of Detective Keith Dressel coming out to the event all day.