Fraternities and Sororities at URI pair up each year in the fall to support local and global charities through competitive and fundraising events
KINGSTON, R.I. – Nov. 19, 2025 – Greek Life’s Philanthropy Week is in its 22nd year at the University of Rhode Island with several worthy causes benefiting from the students’ fundraising efforts.
This year’s theme is “Arcade Games,” a nod to classic video games over the past three decades, including Donkey Kong, NBA Jam, and Angry Birds, and proceeds from events from now through November 21 will help area school children in addition to honoring the memory of a URI student who passed away tragically in May.
The fundraising beneficiaries for 2025 are the Maddie Potts Foundation, Narragansett Elementary School PTO, and the Be Like Timmy Foundation. The Maddie Potts Foundation and Narragansett PTO are raising money to build new playgrounds at the Richmond and Narragansett Elementary Schools, respectively, while the Be Like Timmy Foundation honors the legacy of 22-year-old URI graduate and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity member Timmy Howard, who died in May from a food allergy. The foundation’s mission is to raise awareness about life-threatening food allergies, dispel common myths about anaphylaxis and its treatment, and advocate for better emergency response options.
Though it’s billed as Philanthropy Week, fundraising efforts date back even further, starting with Greek Life’s attendance at the URI men’s club hockey game on November 14 at Boss Arena followed by a bubble ball game on the ice in which students compete in activities while wearing large inflatable spheres covering their upper bodies. Other events include two bingo competitions, Jeopardy, and Capture the Flag. Philanthropy Week culminates Friday with So You Think You Can Dance, an aptly-titled dance contest between fraternities and sororities modeled after the popular television series.
Fraternities and sororities are paired up randomly to compete against their peers, and each pairing is part of the Philanthropy Week T-shirt contest in which the groups must create a shirt design based on one of the vintage games represented in this year’s theme. The shirts are judged based on their creativity, design, theme incorporation, and overall visual appeal with winners announced at the conclusion of Philanthropy Week. Likewise, the fundraising total for the week is announced at the final event. Pairings also have the option of hosting additional fundraising events, whether it’s selling handmade items on the Quad or raffles outside the Memorial Union.
When choosing beneficiaries each year, members of Greek Life’s philanthropy team and chapter presidents try to find topical causes relatable to those in and out of the Greek community.
“We sit down together and talk about what’s impactful in the world right now to us,” said Alpha Xi Delta member and Panhellenic Association vice president of philanthropy and service Kayla Owens, who is also the president of URI’s Best Buddies chapter, “but it will always be about helping people in the local community. We want to stay Rhode Island-centric because the state has given so much to us and we want to give back to it.”
The connection to the Maddie Potts Foundation had been well-established from past Philanthropy Weeks, but the philanthropy team took it a step further this year by reaching out to the Narragansett PTO to see if it had similar needs. When the students realized the PTO had already begun raising money to build a new playground, they decided to match the PTO’s efforts to help push the project over the finish line.
Helping build two new school playgrounds aligns with Greek Life’s continued community outreach throughout the academic year; earlier this semester, fraternities and sororities with houses on the campus’ Fraternity Circle hosted a special Not-So-Spooky Halloween trick-or-treating event for local families. For many in Greek Life, giving back to the community has been a part of their educational experience since high school
“I went to catholic school, and we did 50 hours of community service a year, so when I came to URI I was already familiar with the concept of raising money and giving back to others,” said Tau Kappa Epsilon member Matt Tritto, the Interfraternity Council director of service and involvement. “I knew once I joined my chapter, I wanted a leadership role. It feels good to accomplish a goal and help people in need.”
Philanthropy Week is one of two major fundraising initiatives coordinated by Greek Life. It launched in the fall of 2003 as the fundraising complement to Greek Week, which is held each year in the spring and initially was not intended to raise money until it added its own fundraising component sometime after the launch of Philanthropy Week.
A tradition for more than eight decades, Greek Week was purely a “social event,” according to Greek Affairs assistant director Alison Burke, but with both weeks geared toward raising money, Greek Life is now accumulating eye-popping totals each year, including $350,000 in 2024–25 for a four-year total of more than $1.2 million.
“I love seeing everyone’s faces when we help them out and seeing what it actually means to them,” said Kappa Delta member and Panhellenic philanthropy and service chair Kayla Balisciano. “In high school, I was part of Best Buddies, which I absolutely loved, and wanted to be part of something meaningful at URI, which is why I ran for philanthropy and service chair. The real hands-on work is the best part of what we do.”
Philanthropy Week includes a collaborative contest with Greenhouse restaurant in Narragansett in which 10 percent of purchases using a special code assigned to each chapter will be donated back to the winning chapter’s fundraising total. Sororities and fraternities are also teaming with Books Are Wings, a local non-profit organization that donates free books to children, to host an on-campus book drive for children up to fifth grade.
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Michael Parente, director of communications and marketing in the URI Division of Student Affairs, wrote this news release.