The brothers of Theta Chi will today be continuing their annual tradition of shaving their heads for a good cause as they make a final push toward their goal of raising a total of $3,000 to raise money for Haiti relief.
The brothers have focused their philanthropic efforts this semester on Haiti after an earthquake in January devastated the country.
"One of our recent alumnus is of Haitian descent and had a lot of family living around Port-au-Prince," junior Brendan Blaney, the fraternity's philanthropy chair, said. "He's pretty close to us, so we decided to step up and help out early after [the earthquake] happened."
Theta Chi every year hosts the head-shaving event in which brothers volunteer to have their heads shaved in exchange for donations. Each brother who volunteers will have a jar to collect donations. Once a brother's jar has amassed $30, he will shave his head in front of the crowd.
"It looks like we are going to have between 10 and 15 brothers shaving their heads this year," sophomore Adi Kulkarni, the fraternity's philanthropy chair, said.
Those who donate will have the opportunity to help participate in the actual shaving of the brothers' heads.
"It's a good way to get donors involved in the actual event itself," Theta Chi President Danny Wittels, a junior, said.
The money raised from this year's event will be donated to the Haitian Coalition of Somerville, a local charity tied to the Haitian community, Kulkarni said.
"We thought that while it was great to help people in Haiti, there were also people locally that we could help," Wittels said.
The Haitian Coalition of Somerville is a group that provides financial, social and political support to Haitians living in Somerville and other neighboring communities.
"We usually donate the money we raise to the American Heart [Association,]" Kulkarni said. "We have been fundraising a lot for Haiti this year, so we decided to continue our efforts to support them this year."
Last year's event raised over $600 dollars, according to Wittels.
"Our goal is to at least match what we raised last year," Wittels said. "Obviously we want to raise even more, but if we match $600, we will be happy."
Theta Chi has been working the whole semester to raise funds for Haiti relief and has already raised over $2,500 by selling "Tufts for Haiti" wristbands.
"We've raised $2,500 over the semester and this is our last push effort and we're really trying to reach our goal of raising $3,000," Blaney said.
Theta Chi will also be hosting carnival games and providing wings to those who donate to draw a crowd and more participants.
"We also have some little fun games, and Wings Over Somerville has graciously decided to donate wings to our cause," Blaney said.
"We are hoping that people who are just passing by will donate some money," Kulkarni said.
Wittles hopes the fun nature of the event will attract a lot of participants and donors. "We are hoping that a lot of people do come watch and participate," Wittles said. "Half the fun is watching the shaving take place."
The event will take place on the Mayer Campus Center Lower Patio from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
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Ellen Kan contributed reporting to this article.
