The Brothers held their annual charity event, beginning Monday with a bake sale in the O’Connor Campus Center (Coop) and concluding Saturday with a “Dolla Holla” party at Townhouse 1A.

Founded at Colgate in 1999, Brothers is a student group committed to raising awareness about issues of people of color on the Colgate campus.

“Charity Week is our biggest event of the year,” junior First Lieutenant of Brothers Henoch Derbew said. “It always gets a lot of people interested.”

Monday’s bake sale benefited the Madison Group Home and an AIDS Prevention Program in Zambia, Africa. Brothers also sold carnations in the Coop all week and will personally deliver the purchased flowers later in the week, surprising recipients in their residence halls.

Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Tim Mansfield teamed up with Brothers on Wednesday to draw free caricatures in the COOP. Mansfield’s drawings drew many children from the Hamilton community, as well as Colgate students. People also had the option of donating to various charity organizations in conjunction with Brothers.

On Thursday, Brothers sponsored a Bachelor Auction, in which women bid on having members of Brothers at their disposal for the entire next day.

Today the Brothers host their yearly barbeque from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Whitnall Field, an event also sponsored by the Creative Arts House (CAH), the African Student Union (ASU), the African American Student Alliance (AASA) and the Caribbean Students Association (CSA).

Originally scheduled for this weekend, a charity three-on-three basketball tournament will be held on the Saturday of Spring Party Weekend.

Derbew hopes that Brothers Charity Week 2006 will spread knowledge about their mission and attract new members to the rapidly growing organization.

“The Brothers has been so successful because we have never lost sight of our mission statement,” sophomore Second Lieutenant Anthony Reyna added. “We try to get everyone to participate in Charity Week, even those not involved with Brothers. In this way, it gives us a chance to break the ‘Colgate bubble.'”