DTD’s mission accomplished November 18, 2012 by Whitney Irick Photos by Louise Dequilla The Iota Rho chapter of Delta Tau Delta debuted its new philanthropy Operation: Delta Force last week. The weeklong philanthropy began on Nov. 5 and ended on Nov. 10 and raised more than $1,800. The money raised will benefit Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency financial aid and other assistance to the families of service members and Wounded Warriors. According to sophomore Eddie Espinoza, DTD’s philanthropy chair, many DTD members have active duty or military veterans in their family. Espinoza believes that soldiers should not only be honored on Veteran’s Day, but that they should be recognized year round. “They literally give up their lives to protect the country’s freedom, and they need to be recognized for that,” Espinoza said. Fraternities and sororities helped to contribute to the cause throughout the week in several different ways. Sororities competed to be the overall winner of Operation: Delta Force. Kappa Alpha Theta won the competition with 1,292 points. Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Gamma followed in the top three spots. Monetary donations went toward care packages for military families. One care package is valued at $15, but Greek groups could also create their own personalized packages. The proceeds generated from Operation: Delta Force T-shirt sales were donated to the charity also. Students, whether affiliated or non-affiliated, wrote more than 500 letters to the troops to show encouragement and gratitude. In addition, fraternities and sororities competed in a Facebook profile competition. Profile pictures mentioned Delta Force, or DTD and Operation Homefront. By completing any of these actions, fraternities and sororities were awarded an allotted number of points. The culminating event was a “D-Day” laser tag tournament at Alumni Park on Saturday. Teams consisted of 10 players and each match lasted at the most 10 minutes. The tournament was broken up into two brackets, one for the fraternities and one for the sororities. Since there are an odd number of sororities, the sorority that donated the most money at the time of the game, Theta, was awarded a first-round bye. Points were awarded to the team with the best uniforms. Uniforms were based on creativity and were required to include references to the armed forces and patriotism. The $75 registration fee for the tournament was also donated to Operation Homefront. Participating in the philanthropy meant more than competing to win the competition for many participants. “I wanted to help this cause because I have a brother who serves in the military, so I know how important it is for military personnel to see that we are thankful for what they do. And, the Delts are my favorite fraternity,” said Monica Perez, a member of the Zeta Theta chapter of Gamma Phi Beta.