By BJ LEWIS

Staff Writer

Tech's Eta Zeta Chapter of Sigma Nu took crawfish beyond being a morsel to fill an eager stomach and used it to make a positive impact on the lives of many young ailing children.

Sigma Nu held a crawfish boil Saturday in the parking lot of Backus True Value, located at 103 N. Service Rd. E. in Ruston.

Proceeds from the $8,000 raised from the event went to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

This hospital is especially important to Sigma Nu and the North Louisiana area Luke Lockwood, the president of Sigma Nu and a senior civil engineering major, said.

"We did research and found that 70-75 percent of [St. Jude's patients] come from the north Louisiana area -- from Alexandria and above," Lockwood said. "That's a huge number considering St. Jude has thousands of kids."

Last year this event raised $3,000, and the men of Sigma Nu were looking to tack on another couple thousand dollars this year.

"Our sponsors came through for us big this yearÉwe'll probably make a little more than six thousand this year between the sponsors my fraternity brothers and our [Student Government Association] grant," Nick Henley, a sophomore marketing major said.

That goal was nearly shattered before the first crawfish dropped into the pot Saturday.

Before the boil started, Lockwood said, the fraternity had "already collected more money now than last year's total ... close to $4,000 in sponsor donations without counting ticket sales."

Lockwood thinks the reason the fraternity gets the sponsors it does is because the fundraiser is benefiting St. Jude.

"A lot of organizations are doing crawfish boils around this time," Lockwood said. "So you are competing with them [for donations]. I don't think we are hurt. A lot of people like to donate to a good cause. We have good reception from businesses in Monroe, Shreveport and Ruston. We try to keep to the same businesses and expand from there."

Cajun CafŽ donated a trailer as well as the boiling equipment and scale for the fundraiser. A few picnic tables were set up nearby for those who could not wait to get their crawfish home. Some people did have to wait in line for a minute for their crawfish to be prepared but the wait has gotten more tolerable in recent years.

Some of the donators were not able to make it to True Value for the boil, but Sigma Nu assigned delivery men like Michael Hochstetler, a junior mechanical engineering major, to make sure they get their crawfish on time.

"The fundraiser is one of our biggest philanthropies. It feels good to say we helped contribute that much to such a good organization." Hochstetler said.

Jared Moss, a junior biology major, said he has seen the growth the event has made.

"Every year we make adjustments and improve in areas that need it," Moss said.

He said, "I'm glad we're [improving] and able to raise more money for St. Jude with Sigma Nu."

In addition to St. Jude, Sigma Nu is making a donation to the Methodist Children's Home, located at 901 S. Vienna St. as well as donating a portion of the proceeds to Allen Smith, a local 3-year-old with leukemia.