Crepes and music for a good cause

For many students, a combination of crepes and music is an attraction in itself. The opportunity to help out a good cause is just icing on the cake. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority co-sponsored Philanthropy Rocks, a music concert fundraiser for West Philadelphia Habitat For Humanity, held last night at the SAE house. The proceeds from the benefit go toward Habitat For Humanity to build a house for a West Philadelphia family. "Frats have a great amount of power over campus, and we are trying to use the power to raise money for a good cause," said Engineering sophomore Dmitry Koltunov, an SAE member and event coordinator. For the price of admission, the 300 attendees got four hours of live music and food from campus vendors, including La Petite Creperie and SaladWorks. Establishments such as Eastern Mountain Sports and White Dog Cafe donated gift certificates for a raffle. Four student bands -- Planet Terker, Liam & Me, Blacklist and For Sale -- performed, along with Philadelphia native Kenn Kweder, who plays weekly at Smokey Joe's. "We have a lot of a cappella groups perform on campus, but we also have a lot of rock groups," Koltunov said. "You never hear of a Penn band, so we are trying to do something that hasn't been done." SAE raised $1,600 toward Habitat's $10,000 goal. Upon reaching that goal, Habitat will be eligible for a $30,000 matching grant from the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils. Penn is also considering donating $10,000 toward the $50,000 needed to build the house. "SAE and Theta have done a tremendous job organizing and putting together this fundraiser for Habitat," said Wharton junior Rob Smith, co-chairman of Penn Habitat For Humanity. By providing a non-alcoholic rock concert to benefit a good cause, SAE representatives said they hoped to show how Greeks can benefit the campus and the surrounding community. Theta helped out with advertising and selling tickets, while the Undergraduate Assembly donated $200 for advertising the event. "Our goal for next year is to build the house and sell it to someone in the community at cost," Smith said. When searching for a charitable cause, SAE members said they wanted to find a group that would use the funds to help the community. "One of my friends in Civic House was telling me that Habitat for Humanity was in current need of funds for their West Philadelphia branch," Koltunov added. Overall, most attendees said they were happy to support such a good cause and enjoyed the social atmosphere. "It's a nice day and everything went well," College sophomore Alex Ellenberg said. "It's a nice event for a good cause."