Every semester Wichita State fraternities and sororities host fundraising events to raise money for their philanthropies, whether they are a local cause or international organization. 

This weekend was no exception.

All 82 women of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority invited people to their chapter house to enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches, soup and dessert on Thursday, Friday or Saturday to raise money for Heartspring Pediatric Services, which offers services to children with special needs.

 “I’ve already been here for three meals, yesterday and today. The tomato basil is by far one of the best things I’ve ever had,” senior Tyler Joe, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said on Friday. 

People chose between wheat, white or other specialty breads. For the soups, the tomato basil seemed to be the crowd favorite, which the women of Gamma Phi Beta said contained a secret ingredient one of their own used to make the soup.

Heartspring tweeted on Thursday: “Had lunch at GPhiB today. Grilled Cheese cooked to perfection, excellent tomato soup and some great company.”

In the fall semester, Gamma Phi Beta hosts fundraisers for its local philanthropy. In the past it has done “Grill-A-Thon,” which allows teams of four students to grill the best ribs or chicken. 

“Since it was the first year doing the grilled cheese event, we didn’t anticipate that this was going to be as big as it was and just a little bit ago we had to go buy 20 more [loafs],” junior Cori Wright, Loyalty Circle Chairwoman, said.

Wright also said that last year they reached their goal of raising $3,000 for the fall fundraiser and so their focus with this event was to reach a new goal, up to $4,000.

Wright reported that about 200 people attended the lunch and dinner on Thursday and around the same were expected for Friday and Saturday.

Alumnae of Gamma Phi Beta donated some of the food supplies and the women also split some costs and used the budget set for the event.

Four-year Gamma Phi Beta member Charlotte McKellip said looking back at all the fall semester fundraisers, the grilled cheese fundraiser was well on its way to being the most successful. 

“We’ve already had 50 people today and we’ve only been open for about an hour,” McKellip said on Friday.

McKellip also said that the Greek community is good at supporting each other in their philanthropy events.

“We actually had a fraternity member who said he wanted to buy 45 tickets for their house,” she said.

Apart from WSU students and the Greek community, community members and family also supported the event.

Patti White, who visited her niece Caylin Wiley, a member of Gamma Phi Beta, from Norwich, Kan., also attended the event.

“I thought it was a warm thought for the fall season,” she said. “It was also a great time to spend some time with my niece. I love it that it is staffed by the girls. Everyone had a smile on their face.”