The week of April 10-15, 11 teams made up of IFC fraternities, NPHC sororities, and NPHC Fraternities spent their week raising as much money as possible for the Nash Strong Foundation to honor the memory of a fellow CMU student. Derrick Nash was a beloved student and football player who passed in June of 2015. The foundation that was founded by Nash’s mother Decolia is meant to provide financial means to families so that they are able to spend time with their children who are stuck in hospitals for long periods of time. Decolia was able to spend every day in the hospital with Derrick when he was sick, and they want other families to be able to do the same.

The week of fundraising began on Sunday with an all Greek picture bringing all of the Greek organizations together to honor one cause. The friendly competition included creating buckets for penny wars, attending a speech given by Derrick’s mom and coach Bono, creating GoFundMe pages, competing in athletic games and a mock rock, participating in volunteer activities, and going to small businesses where part of the proceeds would go to the Nash strong foundation. Each day of the week the teams spent hours practicing their dances for the mock rock, which were movie themed. With all of the activities combined the Greek community raised a record amount of $67,577.65.

The speakers hit home for a lot of because Coach Bono is someone that we see or hear about all the time, and to see him up on stage with Derrick's mom was powerful. This event each year is one of the most important all week since it shows each greek life member exactly what they are fighting for.

For everyone in Greek life, we are not competing against one another for a title, but we are pushing each other to raise as much money as possible, and we are even willing to play flag football combined with a three legged race to prove it.

Each team worked hard to incorporate either Derrick or his foundation within their mock rock dance, either by wearing his number 21, having football themed costumes, or taking the journey to help the families in need.

It was only fitting for the amount raised to be announced Saturday, the 17th at the spring football game on the field that Nash loved. Derrick's mom was able to be there to accept the donation on behalf of the Nash Strong Foundation.

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