TKE Smashes Pumpkins for St. Jude Fundraiser
Drake University's Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter raised $870 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through its third annual pumpkin smash event.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Philanthropy
Tau Kappa Epsilon hosted a pumpkin smash fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on October 23 in Helmick Commons at Drake University in Des Moines. Participants smashed pumpkins with bats or sledgehammers in exchange for donations.
Why it matters
The fundraiser supports children's cancer care at St. Jude and reflects growing student participation in campus philanthropy, with the fraternity collecting about 370 pumpkins this semester compared with about 80 last semester.
The fraternity's fundraising page reports $870 raised for St. Jude, with about 370 pumpkins collected this semester compared with about 80 last semester. The report does not say whether the total will change as donations continue to come in.
The players
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
A Memphis-based pediatric hospital focused on treating and researching catastrophic diseases in children, funded largely by private donations.
Tau Kappa Epsilon
A national collegiate social fraternity with chapters at universities across the United States, including the Drake University chapter that organized this event.
Joshua Lopez
Philanthropy chairman of the Drake University chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon, who organized and expanded the pumpkin smash event.
The details
Participants paid for the chance to smash pumpkins with bats or sledgehammers, and donations went to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Philanthropy chairman Joshua Lopez expanded the event after earlier years were successful, and it was the third annual pumpkin smash hosted by the chapter.
Timeline
October 23, 2026: Pumpkin smash fundraiser held in Helmick Commons.
Philanthropy Pipeline
The event extends St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's donation-funded model, which relies on private giving rather than patient fees, by routing campus fundraising toward its pediatric cancer care. Student-led drives like this one add small but recurring contributions to that model.
Readers who want to support St. Jude can still donate through the fraternity's fundraising page, which remains open for children receiving care at the hospital. The fundraiser shows how small, event-based giving can add up quickly when many participants contribute.
The takeaway
Organized campus events can turn modest entry fees and donations into meaningful support for national research causes. Groups looking to replicate the model can start small and expand based on prior turnout, as Drake's chapter did.
Further reading
Explore more Philanthropy coverage from Des Moines to see how local campus and community groups direct giving toward national causes.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times-Delphic.
