Sigma Chi holds annual Flapjack Feast
Saturday, March 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the brothers of Sigma Chi will be hosting their second annual Flapjack Feast philanthropy event.
The event will be held at Crossroads Campus Ministry 331 Dillon Ave. Tickets are for $5 in advance and $7 at the door. The brothers will be tabling in the CSU Thursday, March 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This event is an all-you-can-eat flapjacks, pancakes, and bacon fest. All proceeds from this event will go to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, one of the most prestigious cancer institutes in the nation.
Huntsman Cancer Institute’s website informs that “[HCI is] a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, which means it meets the highest standards for cancer care and research and receives support for its scientific endeavors… [HCI is] also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a not-for-profit alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers.”
Huntsman Care Institute is a part of the University of Utah Health Care; it provides healthcare and treatment to thousands of patients from Utah and neighboring states, and trains future doctors, nurses, and scientists. The institute’s mission is “to understand cancer from its beginnings, and to use that knowledge in the creation and improvement of cancer treatments, to relieve the suffering of cancer patients, and to provide information about cancer risk, prevention, and care.”
The institution is much more than just a hospital, but a training ground to help further prevent and battle the origins of cancer.
HCI is nestled in the beautiful mountainous region of Salt Lake City, UT. The institute has been widely recognized for “the Huntsman’s difference” with gourmet food, a healing garden, and hospital rooms with enormous windows. The founder of HCI, a cancer survivor himself, pledged to create a cancer institute that “looked different, [felt] different, and [fought] cancer in new and different ways.”
HCI is also credited with one of the largest genetic databases in the world with over 300 years of family health records. This database allows for innovative ways to treat and care for cancer patients.
Kevin Clifton, the social chair for Sigma Chi, expressed why this philanthropy was so important by saying, “Everyone has been touched by cancer, whether it be a family member, a friend, or even yourself. I want to be the generation that can end it.”
Clifton isn’t wrong about the probability of knowing someone with cancer. The website seer.cancer.gov estimates that there were 1,658,370 new cases of cancer in the year 2015 with a total number of people living with cancer in the United States alone, being over 13.7 million
Huntsman Cancer Institute is the Sigma Chi’s national philanthropy. Our local chapter here in Mankato raised over $750 last year for HCI, and nationally has raised approximately $3 million since it’s national philanthropic founding in December of 2012.
This year the Mankato chapter has set out to reach a goal of $1,000. The president of Sigma Chi, Dakota Erlanson hopes “everyone can come out and help support finding a cure and preventing cancer.”