Greek Week to fundraise for 2015 Special Olympics

Greek Week, the annual UCLA fraternity and sorority philanthropy event, is donating this year to the Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held in Los Angeles, with $2,700 already fundraised for the July event.

Money raised during Greek Week will sponsor individual athletes participating in the games.

Greek Week is a series of activities and competitions that fraternity and sorority members can participate in while raising money for an organization that the executive board chooses prior to the week. Last year, Greek Week raised money for Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA.

The committee agreed to raise money for athlete sponsorship after a Special Olympics ambassador approached it in the fall, said Nico Gervasoni, a fourth-year political science student and co-president of Greek Week.

While the Greek Week board does not have a specific monetary goal, it hopes to sponsor between three and five athletes’ food and accommodations during the event, said Victoria Venkatraman, a third-year communications studies student and co-president of Greek Week. Each sponsorship costs about $2,500.

“Although it’s a time to bring the Greek community together, I think the charity has been overlooked (in previous years), and it is the focus,” Venkatraman said.

Much of the funds so far have come from people outside of the Greek community, including students, friends and family, said Koko Tanaka, a third-year financial actuarial mathematics student and vice president of the Greek Week executive board.

She said she thinks promoting the event by sharing through social media and using electronic payment sites such as Venmo make it easier for people to contribute.

While a majority of the Greek Week activities are reserved for those in sororities and fraternities, other students can contribute to fundraising by eating at several Westwood dining locations that agree to donate a portion of their profits Thursday to the event. The restaurants include Veggie Grill, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Chick-fil-A, and Garlo’s Aussie Pie Shop.

Participating fraternity and sorority members will also be able to listen to a speaker from the Special Olympics World Summer Games at the opening event of Greek Week Wednesday and participate in several competitions next week.

The board will announce the winning team at the conclusion of Greek Week Feb. 25.