Alpha Phi women deal out Las Vegas trip |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Apr 01 2009 at 2:10 PM |
Photo By Josh Moody
For the last three years, the Alpha Phi Red Dress Poker tournament has been held in the Ponderosa Room, but this year the tournament was held in the Health and Sports Center due to scheduling issues. In spite of a change in venue, the tournament was not at a loss for participants.
By Megan Wenz
Antelope Staff
Gambling, money, ladies in red dresses, fun and friends all describe the opportunity many students found themselves engaged in recently. No, it's not Las Vegas, but the Alpha Phi Red Dress Poker Tournament.
Alpha Phi held their fourth annual Alpha Phi Red Dress Poker Tournament to raise funds for fighting heart disease. The poker tournament is a Texas Hold 'Em style tournament.
The money raised goes toward their national philanthropy, Alpha Phi Foundation, which funds research in prevention of heart disease, because heart disease is a leading cause of death for women nationally.
Alpha Phi nationals adopted Cardiac Care as their philanthropy in 1946 and have raised over $1 million in the fight against heart disease. Each year, the Alpha Phi Foundation awards a major contributor to heart disease research a grant called the Cardiac Care Award to continue their service to the cause.
To stress that the profits for the event go to heart disease research, each member wears a red dress at the tournament.
Prizes included a plane ticket to Las Vegas, Wii Fit, Husker tickets, certificates and much more. Prizes were awarded by raffles or to the top winner of the tournament. Many prizes were donated by local businesses or by alumni of the Alpha Phi chapter.
In previous years, the poker tournament was recognized as one of the most successful Greek philanthropies at UNK. Alpha Phi adopted the tournament as their philanthropy event in 2006. In the first year of the tournament, the sorority raised $3,000, and each year they are able to donate more to their national philanthropy - in 2007 the women raised $9,000.
"We had a great turnout this year. More and more people show up every year, so it makes it really exciting to know we can donate more money to Cardiac Research," said senior Aimee Naber, a health science major from Centennial.
