On Friday, Sept. 15, at 10 p.m. WKU’s Intramural fields will be filled with 50,000 water balloons that will be thrown by an expected 500-1,000 participants.

Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, also known as Fiji, is hosting its first philanthropic water balloon fight Friday to support relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey.

Although the fraternity’s main philanthropy is the Alzheimer’s Association, a last-minute decision was made to send the money raised to Houston, said Carson Ball, a WKU senior and member of Fiji. Ball had the idea to start the water balloon fight, and hopes to see the event continue.

“Whenever we started this idea we thought we would donate the money to the Alzheimer’s Association like we usually do until all the stuff starting happening with Houston,” Ball said. “And so we’ve decided to donate all the proceeds to victims of Hurricane Harvey.”

I would love to get to the point, because I started this idea, where I can completely fund this event, so Fiji can just tell me how much money they need and I can just write them a check. – WKU senior, Carson Ball

Sophomore Will Scott, Fiji’s philanthropy chair, said the fraternity felt like “that’s where the money is really needed right now.”

David Owens, a WKU graduate from Houston, explained some of the troubles his family and friends are facing as a result of Harvey.

“My mom got stuck at work for a week,” he said. “Luckily, my house is fine. But I’ve heard from friends whose houses are completely destroyed.”

After hearing about Fiji’s water balloon fight, Owens said he thought it was “pretty cool to see local organizations make a difference.”

The event will cost $10 for students and will have several contests with prizes.Fiji is also offering to keep track of how many tickets each sorority buys and will reward the winning sorority with a social event.

The fraternity’s biggest struggle has been start-up costs, but they hope to continue the event in the future. Ball said he hopes to ease the financial pressure of the balloon fight after he graduates.

“I would love to get to the point, because I started this idea, where I can completely fund this event,” Ball said. “So Fiji can just tell me how much money they need and I can just write them a check.”

Reporter Hope Currier can be reached at (270)745-2655 and [email protected].