In a well-lit store in Cherry Creek, gathered around cupcakes and jewelry, members of DU’s sororities came together to support a local cause.

Jewelry brand Alex and Ani is known for their charm bracelets that serve an ecological and charitable purpose. Their campaign, Charity by Design, works with various organizations to donate money. Last Wednesday, five sororities hosted a collaborative philanthropy event to raise money for the Colorado flood victims.

On Wednesday night Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Zeta and Gamma Phi Beta all hosted the event at Alex and Ani’s store on 2827 E. 3rd Ave. in Cherry Creek from 5-8 p.m.

Around fifty girls gathered throughout the night to enjoy mini pumpkin, lemon blueberry and nutella cupcakes from the local bakery Smashcakes, to mingle with friends and to browse the jewelry. 15 percent of the proceeds from the jewelry sales that night went towards the American Red Cross for Colorado Flood Victims.

Senior Biology and Psychology major Kayla Stoick from Portland, Ore. helped organize the event and chose the American Red Cross for Colorado Flood Victims as the organization to support because she wanted to give back to the community.

Although Greek Life has had various collaborative events, this was the first time multiple sororities did an event together, according to Stoick.

“I am surprised that nothing like this has happened before to come together for a Panhellenic event that is going towards a good cause,” said Stoick.

According to the Alex and Ani website, they believe that when customers participate in their Charity by Design events, it helps create a new generation of philanthropists. Alex and Ani pairs up with a variety of groups and donates proceeds to non-profit organizations like Stand Up to Cancer, American Red Cross, American Cancer Society and many others.

As the Vice President of Campus Affairs for her sorority, Alpha Phi, Stoick works with community service and philanthropy organizations in Denver. According to Stoick, the Alex and Ani in Cherry Creek reached out to the Alpha Phi sorority to host a Charity by Design event and Stoick contacted the other sororities to join.

“I know that Alex and Ani is really big on campus as a whole, not just within Alpha Phi,” said Stoick. “I thought it would be really fun to bring [Panhellenic] together and make it a more collaborative effort toward a common cause.”

Some attendees came in large groups with fellow sorority sisters while others came with just one or two friends but everyone was busy trying on different bracelets and talking to the sales associates about the different meanings behind each charm bracelet.

One member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, Carolyn Hotchkin, a senior Religious studies major from Pasadena, Calif., came with another member of her sorority to support the cause. Although Hotchkin did not know much about the Alex and Ani bracelets prior to the event, she ended up buying two bracelets.
“Anytime there is a charity event I like to be a part of it, that is why I joined a sorority in the first place,” said Hotchkin. “Jewelry is something I like and something I want and it was easy to show up because the proceeds went to a charity.”

Alex and Ani features bracelets, necklaces, earrings and rings that are all made out of reusable metal from the U.S.

“It’s a cool concept and what I really like about it is they are more about giving back to the environment and making sure that it is not just a bracelet but it has more meaning behind it,” said Stoick.

According to Stoick, this event was not finalized until a week prior to the event so the marketing was focused mainly towards sororities, but she hopes it will be a campus-wide event in the future.
“I think in the future this event would be more successful if you did more marketing and had posters and had people tabling so that more people know about it than just the sororities, because I think it would be awesome for it to be a ‘girls’ event for the DU community,” said Stoick.