Zeta Beta Tau Scores for Rory

Each year the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign campus sponsors a Powder Puff football game. All the proceeds go to a designated charity and this year, The Rory David Deutsch Foundation was the beneficiary.

The fraternity’s philanthropy chairman was Jeffrey Holmes. As a counselor at Camp Horseshoe, he met Ross Deutsch and his sons. Jeff said, “I’ve known about The Foundation and the work it has been doing for a while. When I was asked to be the philanthropy chair, I knew we had the opportunity to help The Foundation. The Power Puff game is our main philanthropic event of the year, and this year we did it for Rory.”

In this event, members of the fraternity coach a team from a participating sorority. “We get fifteen or sixteen sororities each year to participate, and they all pay a hundred dollar entry fee,” Jeff said. “Guys in the house also make contributions. Then, we write to all the fraternity parents and ask them to make contributions.”

In that letter, Jeff wrote: “This year ZBT has chosen to donate all of the proceeds from the Powder Puff football game to The Rory David Deutsch Foundation. With your help, Zeta Beta Tau hopes to join The Rory David Deutsch Foundation in its mission to eradicate pediatric brain tumors and other devastating childhood diseases as well as to make a difference in the lives of afflicted children and their families.”

During Power Puff week, the coaches met their teams on Wednesday, and practiced with them on Thursday to prepare for the first round of competition on Friday, April 8. This year, 12 sororities from the Champaign campus participated. The Championship Game took place on Saturday, April 9, between Sigma Delta Tau and Gamma Phi Beta. Gamma Phi Beta took home the trophy with a winning score of 7-0. The trophy was awarded at a post-game concert, where Jeff spent time on stage acquainting the crowd with the efforts and goals of The Rory David Deutsch Foundation. The event raised almost $3,000.

However, the fraternity’s philanthropic commitment does not stop there. They have an ongoing program known as “Sober Drivers.”

“On the weekend, anyone can call the house and rent a Sober Driver,” Jeff explained. “We drive you wherever you want to go and charge a dollar per person. We keep track of the funds and at the end of each semester, we’ll send The Foundation a check.”

It is good to know that Jeff Holmes and the rest of the men of Zeta Beta Tau have the drive to help The Rory David Deutsch Foundation succeed.