Sororities and fraternities from SF State's Greek community raised a record amount during their annual "Mr. Alpha Phi" competition for cardiac care research.

Alpha Phi International Fraternity kicked off the fourth annual, three-day event in Malcolm X Plaza on Feb. 9. Together with Pi Kappa Phi, Phi Kappa Tau, and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternities they raised money for the Alpha Phi Foundation.

"People are surprised to hear that heart disease is the number one killer of women, because they only hear about breast cancer," Nathalie Galvez, director of Philanthropy, said.

"This is a good opportunity for us to spread awareness of it," the 19-year-old said.

Mr. Alpha Phi was an idea that the sisters of Alpha Phi chose out of many others brought back to the chapter from a regional meeting by their executive board.

For the event, each fraternity nominated someone to represent their chapter along with a photo. Heart-healthy baked goods were sold, with each customer choosing which fraternity they wanted to support with their purchase.

This year's total donation received was the largest amount ever for the event at SF State with more than $900 raised. Last year's contributions were over $600 less than that, according to Galvez.

The fraternity with the most donations received a pancake breakfast from the sorority sisters for helping the Alpha Phi Foundation.

Phi Kappa Tau raised the most money this year, a second occurrence for the fraternity, with over $400.

"We try to participate in many sorority and Greek life events, and we are actually a sponsor for Love Fest," Allan Chan, a member of Phi Kappa Tau for the past three years, said.

Two new items added to the list this year were heart-healthy cookies and cocoa-nutmeg sinckerdoodles. Both were a big hit with customers, but Galvez felt that this year's high fundraising numbers came down to the boys.

"They all wanted to win, and donated a lot to make sure it happened for their fraternity," said Galvez.

For 81-year-old Chuck Hatchett, psychology major at SF State, coming up with a fun and engaging idea to raise awareness for matters like cardiac care research was an excellent idea.

Although he has not experienced heart disease, Hatchcett has had various serious health issues in the past including prostate cancer, and said that he supported anything that was health worthy.

"I didn't realize what bucket I dropped my donation into, but all that matters is that it went in for a good cause," Hatchcett said.