By
Rachel Schick
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA fraternity raises money for the disabled
Pi Kappa Phi fraternity raised nearly $3,500 for people with disabilities and strengthened its commitment to its national charity last week with several days events - including its first 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball tournament.
In the past, Pi Kappa Phi held one or two events a semester to support its national philanthropy PUSH America, an organization that raises money to serve people with disabilities. This semester, the fraternity created "PUSH Week," a series of events including an empathy dinner, scaffold sit, gentlemen's auction and the basketball tournament.
Dan Fritcher, a computer engineering freshman, and Sean Mahoney, a political science sophomore, worked together to organize the basketball tournament and "PUSH Week."
"We wanted to make it bigger," said Mahoney, Pi Kappa Phi public relations chair.
The basketball tournament was comprised of 12 teams. Six teams were made up of fraternity members and six drew its athletes from various organizations for the handicapped.
All players, disabled or not, played the game in wheelchairs. To avoid "traveling," players had to dribble once for every two "wheels."
The fraternity started "PUSH Week" with an empathy dinner on Tuesday with the members of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
Pat Reilly, a finance sophomore, said cards were assigned to dinner guests, each symbolizing a different disability. Guests either ate dinner blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs, with their fingers taped together, or limited to the use of three to five-letter words. These exercises represented blindness, not having the use of arms, cerebral palsy or speech impediments, respectively.
"The purpose was to create empathy, not sympathy," Reilly said.
Starting Wednesday and ending Friday, the fraternity raised more than $500 during a 52-hour "scaffold sit" on the UA Mall. A two-story high scaffold was built and fraternity members - wearing neon green vests bearing the words "PUSH America" and carrying white buckets for collecting money - sat on it in shifts.
"We had people walking around asking for donations and getting the word out," said Seth O'Brien, a music freshman. "I took the night shift. A couple of us were there from one to two in the morning."
Saturday evening the fraternity made about another $500 at its biannual gentlemen's auction.
"We had a smaller turnout because of Easter weekend," said Drew Hoffos, president of Pi Kappa Phi. "Next weekend, we'll be holding another auction."
Fritcher, Pi Kappa Phi secretary, said his fraternity will continue to hold PUSH Week each semester. He said he wanted more campus involvement and support in the future.
"I'm hoping this will take off," Fritcher said. "We'd like to see the whole greek community here."
Hoffos, a business sophomore, said the main point of the week was not to raise money but to raise awareness.
"My shoulders are so sore from (playing basketball) yesterday," Hoffos said. "I feel like a truck hit me. It was definitely an education for everybody."
Fraternity members say they hope to draw as many as 20 teams next year for basketball tournament. In addition, the fraternity will hold its second annual "powder puff" game next semester as part of PUSH Week, Hoffos added.
Tyler Byers, Anthony Russo and Brian Reinertsen, members of team "Break Stuff," won the basketball tournament. "Break Stuff," representing the non-profit organization JAWS - Juniors Active in Wheelchair Sports - earned the $100 first prize despite the mid-tournament replacement of Reinertsen, who broke his finger during a game.
Amanda Bareiss, a mathematics freshman who plays basketball regularly with the "Wildchairs," a campus wheelchair basketball team, also participated in the tournament.
"I think it's great that people are finally realizing that wheelchair sports are real sports," Bareiss said.
Tony Barrasso, a criminal psychology freshman and member of Pi Kappa Phi, found a new level of respect for wheelchair-bound athletes when playing in the tournament.
"It's a lot harder than I thought it would be," Barrasso said. "They're amazing. Some of the stuff they do I couldn't do (out of a wheelchair)."
