The Brothers of Psi Upsilon are committed to service and have partnered with a variety of charitable organizations to this end. In Spring 2011 we organized “Food for Thought,” a sidewalk sale on the Quad which raised near $1000 for the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation – a natural partnership as Psi U’s have tutored at Booker T. Washington Elementary School for years. Archived below are other examples of our philanthropic activities from the past several years.
Hotcakes for Haiti
On February 6, 2010, the Omicron chapter sponsored a philanthropy to assist with Haitian relief. As Philanthropy chair Sal Palafox ’12 writes: “The name of the event was Hotcakes for Haiti. The basic idea was to have a $5 dollar pancake breakfast where all proceeds benefit the American Red Cross. With the help of the rest of the VP External chairs, we set everything up, made a Facebook group, created a flyer, notified all the other Greek organizations and groups we could. News of our event grew so large that we were featured on two philanthropy based websites (one from the University and the other from a third party) and even got interviewed for a local radio station. After the whole event, I am proud to announce that our total donations (including brother and alumni donations) are at $2200. With this blueprint, we hope to continue hosting this type of event for years to come.”
Knock Out Juvenile Diabetes
On Sunday, August 26, 2007, Psi Upsilon Fraternity held its first-ever “Knock Out Juvenile Diabetes” Philanthropy Fundraiser. Participants were “charged” a $5 donation to don comically large gloves and duke it out in a giant inflatable boxing ring for a predetermined amount of time. All proceeds benefited the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF.
According to JDRF, approximately 20.8 million Americans suffer from diabetes, with as many as 3 million suffering from Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes. More than 13,000 children will be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes next year. At least 194 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and the World Health Organization expects that number to double by the year 2030.
Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1 billion to diabetes research.
Sam Biardo Memorial Philanthropy
In the early 2000s, our major charitable event of the year was the Sam Biardo Memorial Philanthropy, in memory of our brother, pictured at right, who passed away on April 22, 2001 due to a congenital heart problem. Sam was on the waiting list to receive a heart transplant. Tragically, though, he became an organ donor instead of an organ recipient upon his sudden death. The brothers of our chapter were deeply moved by the loss of Brother Biardo, and to remember our loss but also his life, our fraternity established the Sam Biardo Philanthropy. You may read about this in the U of I Alumni Association magazine from spring 2003.