Lambda Chi hosts Family Feud philanthropy

Neither John O'Hurley nor Steve Harvey was dressed in a black button-up and white suit and tie on Monday at Lambda Chi Alpha's Family Feud for Food philanthropy fundraiser.

John Grady, a junior, was the host of Lambda Chi's first philanthropy event since its reestablishment on campus in 2010. It was held to benefit the Central Virginia Food Bank, whose goal is to fight hunger and better the lives of people in the Richmond community, according to the FeedMore website.

"It was nice to have the first philanthropy," Grady said. "Our goal was to get people out and excited and to tell people about our charity."

Lambda Chi's national philanthropy is North American Food Drive, Thomas Johnson, the chapter president, said.

The event operated similarly to the game show Family Feud. There were 14 teams of four students that competed in the single-elimination tournament. Two teams went against each other at a time, and the goal was to get as many points as possible and to be one of the final two teams to make it to the "Richmond Championship Round." Only two questions were asked during each round, and the teams could win up to 100 points per question.

The championship round was between Delta Gamma and Pi Beta Phi. Delta Gamma came in first place and won the $50 grand prize.

"I was really surprised as to how many sororities came out," Matt Freedlander, Lambda Chi's philanthropy chair, said. "I am really happy and really appreciate it."

The game, held in the Tyler Hanes Commons, was made possible by a Family Feud flash application that Freedlander said he had found online. The application was projected onto a screen and included the actual Family Feud sound effects.

"We watched a lot of Family Feud to get the questions and answers," Freedlander said. "They were all legitimate, even though they all seemed to be outdated."

Freedlander said the idea to do a Family Feud event had been a collaboration between him and Johnson.

"We really needed a big fundraiser because we haven't had one since we've been on campus," Freedlander said.

He said he had been thinking over the summer of fun things on campus that hadn't been done before, like trivia and sporting events.

"It all came together," he said.

Erin Maxwell, a sophomore on the Delta Divas Team, said: "I love Family Feud. It is one of my favorite game shows."

Lambda Chi gave away free Chick-fil-A sandwiches and had many raffles prizes, including a Brooks Brothers polo, Sweet Frog gift cards, a box of chocolates and a dinner date with Ryan Busch, a member of the fraternity.

One of the obstacles Lambda Chi faced was deciding the date of the event. It was originally scheduled to be held last week, but it interfered with Delta Dodgeball, a philanthropy event held by Delta Delta Delta.

"We decided to move it because we didn't want to impede on anybody else's events that were already scheduled," Freedlander said.

The NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship game aired at the same time as Family Feud for Food. Johnson said this was why sororities had been more present at the event than fraternities.

"I think for our first time doing it, it went very well," Johnson said, "but we could have planned it on a better day."

"There is definitely room for improvement next year," Freedlander said.

"I am really happy with how this went," Johnson said. "It was very nerve-wrecking before because this was our very first time, and we had nothing to build off of. Now that we have this, we can build off of it, so it's great."

For future events, Johnson said he wanted to have a canned-food drive. He also said he wanted an event that forced people to go into a grocery store in the first place. He also would like to work with stores, gain sponsorship and receive donations, Johnson said.

Contact staff writer Marie Jayme at marie.jayme@richmond.edu