The Knox Student

On Saturday, Oct. 16, the Delta Delta Delta sorority held its second annual Delta House of Pancakes event, also known as “DHOP.” It was the final event of the sorority’s “St. Jude Awareness week,” which aims to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“This is our organization’s national philanthropy, which means that Delta chapters around the country do fundraisers for St. Jude. Throughout the week, we’ve tabled outside the caf, distributed lollipops with statistics on children’s illnesses and placed informational flyers in bathrooms,” senior and Philanthropy Chair Izzy Leventhal said.

“We expect to raise about $500 dollars tonight,” Leventhal said, based on the previous year’s numbers.

This event, however, is not the only thing the sorority does to help St. Jude. They will have a softball tournament, letter-writing drive and other events later this year.

“St. Jude only asks for money if the [patient’s] family can afford to pay, so it’s important that we support them as much as possible. We want to raise money and awareness in a fun way the whole campus can enjoy, but it’s really all about the hospital and the children,” senior Liz Roemer said.

At the event, held in the Wilson House, attendees were treated to delicious pancakes, upbeat dance music and plenty of laughter. Upon entering, attendees were given a plastic wristband with the name and age of a child being treated at St. Jude. These wristbands served as a somber reminder as to the real reason for the event—to help sick children.

“So far, we’ve had a wonderful turnout, even though it’s that time of night when parties are getting started,” Roemer said, who, at the time, was engaged in the task of clearing tables of empty cups and plates of uneaten pancakes.

A Delta alumna, Carla Hamilton, happened to be in attendance that night and reminisced about her days making and serving pancakes last year.

“Mostly, I recall massive amounts of pancakes. Plate after plate after plate after plate. It’s ridiculous,” Hamilton said.

And plenty of pancakes there were. A donor received one plate of pancakes and a drink for three dollars or unlimited pancakes for five dollars. The ladies kept things interesting with strawberry, blueberry and M&M topping choices. To drink, they served lemonade, iced tea and Arnold Palmers.

One attendee in particular seemed to be experiencing some discomfort from his pancake consumption.

“I’m having a pancake eating contest with myself, though I’m also here to support the lovely Delta girls” junior Brandon Paraharm said.

“Last year I ate five plates and now I’ve hit that point and am waiting on my sixth, topped with cool-whip and M&Ms. That’ll be eighteen pancakes total. I think I could be facing some pancake inebriation,” he said.