What do you get when you give 100 watermelons to 650 college students?
Well, a mess. But when the event is the 31st annual Watermelon Bust, you also get thousands of dollars of proceeds to donate to charities.
After a Saturday morning at LaFollette field filled with seeds, rinds and relay races, event organizers Alpha Chi Omega sorority and Delta Tau Delta fraternity had nearly $10,000 to donate to Habit for Humanity and the American Red Cross.
"This has become quite a tradition on campus," Alpha Chi Omega president Betsy Fenn said.
Last year, the bust raised over $10,000 and though this year's exact total has not yet been announced, those involved estimate that the amount will be similarly impressive.
The sum is a testament to the generosity and philanthropy of the participating students, and most specifically, of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
The bust is an excellent synthesis of community service and enjoyment. Still, some students have cast aside the bust as only a glorified fraternity party. Year after year, it's been met with the same eye-rolling and stereotyping that unrightly plagues many fraternity- or sorority-sponsored events. Students murmur and chastise the event as only a reason to get drunk earlier than normal.
But try telling that to one of the beneficiaries of the fund-raising, or to one of the students who sweated to make this event a huge success again.
The Watermelon Bust is a good time, but it's more than just a good time. The event raised nearly $10,000 in a few hours on Saturday, and in all likelihood, the selected charities will see another $10,000 next fall.
Who said proactivity couldn't be fun?
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