Over 150 members of the University of Maine’s Greek Life played tug of war and jumped into a pool of green Jell-O on Saturday to help raise $900 for The Painted Turtle Camp and terminally ill children.

UMaine’s Delta Zeta chapter has been hosting their “Turtle Tug” event for 11 years, with all proceeds going to benefit the Painted Turtle Camp, located in Lake Hughes, Calif. The camp gives terminally ill children an authentic camp experience for free.

This year was especially significant for Delta Zeta as the camp, funded by Newman’s Own Foundation, experienced the effects of a wildfire which burned down part of the camp. According to event organizer Julia Nacorda, over 500 kids were unable to attend camp this summer.

“It’s important because raising this money will help rebuild the camp so all these kids can go back and have that camp experience,” said Jamie Hoglund, another organizer of the event.

Delta Zeta surpassed their goal of 25 teams with 30 teams participating. Delta Zeta sororities across the country participate in similar events, all benefiting The Painted Turtle Camp.

Philanthropy was an important theme of the event.

“I think a lot of time Greeks get a bad reputation,” said Theo Koboski, president of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. “But really, stuff like this is the reason why we were founded in the first place. Every group is different and every group has different ideals that they strive for, but I think it’s the same thing all across the board in terms of our unifying subject [being] this idea that we benefit so much from the community and we want to have a chance to give back.”

Free doughnuts and pizza were provided. People played the popular backyard game Corn Hole and cheered while teams participated in a fierce tug of war competition.

Phi Mu won the sorority bracket and Alpha Gamma Rho won for the fraternity bracket.

“People really come out and support our philanthropy and we do the same for them,” said Maya Clifford, a sister of Delta Zeta.