Multicultural fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta hosted comedian Gilbert Esquivel Thursday night to raise awareness about Hispanic Heritage Month and raise money for St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

The fraternity was given $2,550 in Undergraduate Student Government funding for the event: Laugh Fest ’09, which was held on the Tempe campus. Its goal was to raise $300 in donations.

At the end of the night, the fraternity had raised $15.26 from about 40 people who attended the event.

Before the show, economics senior and president of Sigma Lambda Beta Malcolm Idlebird said he was optimistic about the goal. Afterward, he said he wasn’t disappointed, even though the goal wasn’t met.

“I think it’s cool. I just think we need to try harder with our promotions,” he said. “It was a lot of fun and I don’t think any money was wasted. I think we just need to expand our promotions to reach a different crowd next time.”

Esquivel said he also visited ASU about 10 years ago and said some of the same students seem to still be here.

“Of course I like ASU too, but I like any school that pays me,” Esquivel said.

Business communication sophomore Tanya Noor said she thought $2,550 was too much money to spend on a comedian.

“I think that it’s a cool event, but I think it’s a lot of money for an event like this,” Noor said.

Design studies senior William Dooms, a member of Sigma Lambda Beta, said his personal goal was making sure everyone left with smiles on their faces.

“We really just want everyone to have fun. Most of us are in the middle of our first round of tests and everyone is stressed,” Dooms said.

“People are bogged down and we want people to come let loose.”

The reason the fraternity chose St. Mary’s as the donation recipient is because members volunteered there about three weeks ago.

“We packed about 21,000 pounds of food and donated food ourselves,” Dooms said. “It was just a really great experience for us.”

Idlebird said the fraternity is trying to build a repertoire with St. Mary’s because it plans on completing most of its volunteer hours there this semester.

“We like them because they are local and they can always use help,” he said.

The comedy show was part of Sigma Lambda Beta’s “Beta Week,” which also included an alcohol awareness program and a fraternity brother night.

“We just want people to see that yeah, we’re doing community service, but we’re having fun too. We’re incorporating one with the other,” Dooms said. “We like to have a good time and help the community — we’re here for a purpose.”

Reach the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu.