Sugar Spike Off - Miami, FL
On November 21, 2010, the brothers of Nu Colony of Delta Epsilon Psi threw our third annual Sugar Spike Off volleyball tournament. The tournament was an extremely successful philanthropic effort that reached out to not only the Miami campus, but also the Miami community as well. Our goal was to top our previous set mark of $2,500 donation to our philanthropy, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
The Sugar Spike Off volleyball tournament; an idea developed by a founding class member of Nu Colony, Ashish Shah; has grown significantly in its three years. In its first years, co-ed teams were established in a six team, single game knockout style competition. The second annual tournament hosted fifteen coed teams in a similar single game knockout style competition. This year, we expanded our competition to a two bracket style system, separating men and women. Sixteen teams participated in the double elimination tournament, and more people came to support our event by cheering on competing teams and making private donations of their own. We were able to pass last year’s benchmark of $2,500 and donated a grand total of $3,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a full 20% over our anticipated goal.
We contacted numerous organizations on campus as well as business’s in the Miami area to help sponsor our event with both monetary donations and other forms of donations including food and other kinds of refreshments. Once we explained that all proceeds would go directly to our philanthropy, they eagerly jumped on board for our cause. Several even offered to sponsor upcoming events for the spring semester. Our sponsors included Miss Yip Chinese Cafe, Muscle Milk, Center of the U, as well as others. Our event was made successful due to the kind contributions of these groups.
This was an excellent service event that really opened up my eyes to different, innovative ways to throw an event for a philanthropic cause. This being the first year I was involved with the planning and logistics, I really got a sense of how difficult it was to put together such a large, well planned event. I never knew how such a simple idea could be made possible and could lead to helping others in a positive way. I look forward to many more successful Sugar Spike Off tournaments. I have confidence that my brothers along with myself can continue to make this a progressively successful tournament. These events make me proud to be a part of the largest and fastest growing South Asian fraternity.
