NDSU fraternities raise money for Homeward Animal Shelter with ‘Pucks for Pups’

Through combining a passion with a cause, North Dakota State fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) started a new event called “Pucks for Pups.” At the inaugural event, fraternities participated in a hockey tournament and all proceeds will go to the Homeward Animal Shelter.

As of publication, they have raised about $1,500. Donations were open on their GoFundMe page until March 27. The final donation amount will be counted late Wednesday and sent to the shelter. All proceeds from the March 23 event at the H.A. Thompson & Sons Arena will go to the shelter’s needs for housing and caring for the animals.

Four fraternities participated in the hockey tournament: SAE, Delta Tau Delta (DTD), Farmhouse and Theta Chi, giving a total of 25 skaters. Around 75 people showed up to support the cause.

The event was hosted by Ben Yantes, a sophomore nursing student and the philanthropy chair for SAE. He handles the service projects for the fraternity and gives members opportunities to get service hours throughout the semester.

The event was created because Yantes wanted to bring his passion for playing hockey into service work. Although it has always been talked about in the past because most members enjoy the sport and have no time to play it otherwise, Yantes was the only one who was able to successfully put on the event and said he hopes to continue making this an annual event. Yantes and his fraternity brothers thought it would be interesting to play with other NDSU fraternities while also raising money for a charity.

“This is the first time anything like this has been done on the NDSU campus, which is cool,” Yantes said.

Some SAE members volunteer with Homeward Animal Shelter, which led to the idea of including the organization in the tournament and expanding their philanthropic efforts from their main charity they work with, the Children’s Miracle Network.