Members of more than 30 campus Greek chapters gathered Monday night at Western Bowl, 917 Francis Drive, in Champaign, to hold their annual Greek Bowl event.

The event was held to raise money for Bowl for Kids’ Sake, a nationwide fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Bowl for Kids’ Sake is the organization’s largest fundraiser, said Ali Johnson, regional director of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The event raised about $9,000 this year, shy of last year’s amount of about $10,000, said Doug McDonald, junior in Engineering and vice president of service for Interfraternity Council.

All chapters from each of the four Greek councils – Black Greek Council, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and United Greek Council – are invited to participate in the event. To sponsor a bowling lane, a chapter must raise $300.

Some chapters chose to share a lane with another chapter, requiring each to raise $150.

“Some chapters pay out of their budgets and others fundraise by canning on the Quad, selling food or asking people for donations,” McDonald said.

The largest donor this year was Alpha Epsilon Phi, a Panhellenic Council sorority. The chapter donated $679, McDonald said.

Samantha Edidin, sophomore in LAS and vice president of philanthropy for Alpha Epsilon Phi, said the chapter raised the money by selling cookies and canning on Green Street during the week of March 10.

“It was a good thing for the women in our chapter to go out and raise money for the cause,” Edidin said. “It only took two hours out of everyone’s day.”

Edidin thinks the event’s popularity in the Greek community is due to its support for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“We get to go out and bowl while raising awareness for such an important cause, and I think people really understand that,” Edidin said.

While all bowling lanes were filled at last year’s event, only 28 out of 32 were occupied this year.

“We encourage (the chapters) to participate, but some chapters have other things going on or it’s a large financial commitment that they can’t do,” McDonald said.

Black Greek Council was not able to attend this year, but still made a generous donation, McDonald said.

Those in attendance enjoyed pizza and soft drinks and were able to try some different styles of bowling, outlined on a sheet titled “Crazy Bowl” that was given to each team.

The sheet included different styles to try for each bowling frame, such as bowling between another teammate’s legs.

“(The event) is really fun, and I like to bowl,” said Nichole Elledge, junior in ACES and member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.