This year, participants of the annual Greek Week philanthropy celebration invited the campus community to take part in a Chico State tradition.

“Chico’s Greek Week started with Pioneer Days in the ’70s,” said Amber Speciale, vice president of the Panhellenic Council.

The event was changed to make it more of a community event and focus on philanthropy, said Abbie Page, paraprofessional of sororities and fraternities.

There were five teams that consisted of sorority, fraternity and multicultural organizations that competed as a group. The theme this year was decades, and each of the teams were divided into the ’20s, ’50s, ’70s ’80s and the year 3000.

“Greeks can come together and collaborate with each other and work as a team to support the community,” Page said. “We have pillars that we work towards, which are leadership, scholarship, community service and integrity.”

The week’s events included a fundraiser at Madison Bear Garden for cancer awareness, a breast cancer walk, a blood drive, a can drive where participants constructed symbols representing their era and more.

“Greek life is made up of over 1,000 people, so we know that the results are incredible when that many people are working towards a common goal,” Page said. “We are their largest blood drive in all of California. In the two days we do the blood drive they said that it is a third of what they get in a month.”

“We want to have the events on campus so that other members of the community and campus can walk by and are welcome to attend,” she added.

For the Greek Games, the teams competed against each other in a series of physical challenges.

The games are important because they bring the organizations together as a community, said Malcolm McLemore, the program coordinator of Greek Life.

“There’s not many opportunities for all of the fraternities and sororities to actually come together for one event to just enjoy the camaraderie,” McLemore said.

The final event of Greek Week was the talent show, where each team put on a performance involving their decade.

McLemore discussed the importance of the talent show in Greek Week.

“One things about the talent show is the fact that they have to perform,” McLemore said. “We realize that when a chapter comes together to put on a performance, they are working together towards a unified goal.”

At the end of Greek Week, there is a winner and points are given to the teams who participate the most. Team 1950’s earned the title of Greek Week champions when the week concluded.

“Time and effort and giving back to the community is the main goal of Greek Week,” Speciale said. “There is a competitive side of it, but it ultimately raises the awareness of the Greek community being a big part in the city of Chico.”

Greek Week recap:

542 pints of blood were donated to Blood Source

4000+ cans were donated to North State Food Bank

$500 was raised during Food Frenzy

$3,745 was donated to the American Cancer Society

All proceeds from the talent show went to charity projects.

Lindsay Pincus can be reached at [email protected] or @lindsaypincus on Twitter.