The men of Phi Gamma Delta slipped out of their shirts, soaked up the sun and lathered up the suds to wash away some financial problems for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The FIJI fraternity washed more than 100 cars outside of their chapter house, 1801 E. First St., Saturday afternoon and raised $1,200 for the American Red Cross and charity hurricane relief efforts, said fraternity President Andy Prupas.
The chapter also pledged to match all of their proceeds from their social budget and will donate a total of $3,000 to the relief efforts, said car wash organizer Juan Asensio, a pre-business junior.
The men want to donate most of the funds to the American Red Cross, but they are also interested in setting aside some donations for smaller charities in New Orleans, said Prupas, a media arts senior.
To attract customers, fraternity members held signs and used megaphones on the corner of East Speedway Boulevard and North Campbell Avenue advertising the event.
Some used themselves as billboards and wrote the details on their chests and backs.
Prupas was satisfied with the turnout and pleased with the amount of money the men raised.
“The car wash went excellent,” Prupas said. “We raised a lot of money, and a lot of people donated money even if they couldn’t get their car washed.”
Kathleen Hudson, a nutritional sciences junior, said she got her car washed by the FIJI men because she wanted to donate to a good cause and her car was in need of washing anyway.
“I’m killing two birds with one stone,” Hudson said, “I needed a car wash, so why not donate the money to the Red Cross?”