Pi Beta Phi sorority won $2,000 for their literacy philanthropy, First Book, after participating in a Belk department store contest called Belk Sorority Challenge. The contest took place on Oct. 20, 2011, and the winner was recently announced. To participate, girls visited Belk and voted for their own sorority. The sorority with the most votes at the end of the event won a $2,000 donation to a charity of their choice. “We always encouraged girls participate in our community, Panhellenic and Pi Phi in general,” said Jessie Ashton, vice president of communications for Pi Beta Phi. “This was an awesome opportunity for us to help out and go shopping.” Pi Beta Phi chose to use the money to support their philanthropy that encourages literacy. Ashton said the girls in her sorority were thrilled with the prospect the contest presented to them. “We were all really excited about the opportunity to promote literacy again and were proud to have won,” Ashton said. “We will donate [the money] to the Pi Beta Phi literacy fund, which will be used for all of our literacy initiatives, including Arrow in the Arctic, First Book and Champions Are Readers.” Brooke Stephens, assistant buyer for Belk, said seven other sororities participated in the contest, which was a product of a Belk office outside of Alabama. “The Contemporary Buying Office in Charlotte, N.C., came up with the idea for the Sorority Challenge and worked in conjunction with the Belk at University Mall and our Special Events Office,” Stephens said. Stephens said this was the second year the contest was held, with Alpha Delta Pi taking home the victory last year. The contest will be held again this year, with the exact date being unknown at this time.