Charity Bed Races raise $600 for CHOP

With a wave of the yellow flag, they were off -- weaving recklessly through the orange cones which marked the course down 36th Street. Head-to-head, two teams at a time sped down the street Saturday morning, guiding their twin-size mattresses-on-wheels toward the finish line. The second annual Charity Bed Races, coordinated by the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Alpha Phi sorority, were successful in raising more than $600 for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, according to Wharton senior and DTD bed race chairperson Andy Levinson. The donations came from a $35-a-team entrance fee, in addition to proceeds from a party held by the fraternity Saturday night. The bed race winners in the men's, women's and coed categories were given free dinners at Smokey Joe's, and the second-place teams were awarded CDs from CD Now's virtual store on the Internet. This year's races were "five times as successful as last year," according to College junior and DTD Vice President Jason Brenner, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist. "We had big-time sponsors including the Eastman Kodak Company and WDRE radio that helped out a lot in promoting the event," he explained. WDRE DJ "Scoobie Dan" Fein said the station's sponsorship comes as part of a semi-annual college tour aimed at increasing college listenership. "We try to coincide our visits to schools with events such as the bed races," he said. "College students listen to WDRE a lot, so we want to show them our support in return." Last year, members of DTD organized the event as a solo venture. "Our fraternity is only a couple of years old and we didn't have much in the way of long-standing traditions," Brenner explained. "We thought the bed races would be a fun activity to raise money. You don't see five people racing on a bed down 36th Street every day." This year, Alpha Phi joined in the organization of the event. "The InterGreek Council has been trying to promote sorority and fraternity unity," said College junior and Alpha Phi philanthropy chairperson Kristin Newman. "We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get a group of guys and girls together, while doing something for the community." DTD President and College senior Norm Hetrick said the goal of the event was to "encourage a philanthropic event that involved more of the campus than just members of the Greek system." Participating teams represented various organizations and athletic groups from across the University. While the general rules of the races were carried over from last year, some minor changes were made in the interest of safety. Participants were required to wear helmets and knee and elbow pads, and the course was altered from straight shot to slalom, with an extra block and five bed-stoppers added at the end to regain control of the beds. Still, the course's sharp turns were full of potential dangers. When the defending champion Snappers collided with the challenging Big Dogs in a heat of their race, one of the beds was damaged, College junior and Snapper member Jon Miller explained. The overlapping of the races with Penn's season-opening football game was somewhat detrimental to the success of the event, Brenner said. Levinson added that next year's races will most likely take place in the spring between Hey Day and Spring Fling, when there are fewer conflicting events.