Downtown State College Korean fried chicken restaurant Tasty K started a new philanthropic event titled “Battle of the Greeks” in the hope of giving back to the State College community.

Owner and CEO Andy Lee has continued his passion for giving back to his community and helping those in need. This past December, Penn State student and Tasty K’s Community Engagement Specialist Hannah Jackson collected gifts to give to children in the State College area who lived in assisted living.

This month, Jackson and Victor Rodriguez have continued Tasty K’s community engagement by launching “Battle of the Greeks.” A total of six Greek organizations will be competing to raise the most money on behalf of their philanthropy, and the winning organization will receive an additional $500 donation from Lee.

Each day from Monday, March 11, to Saturday, March 16, the Greek organizations compete to get the most participants to Tasty K and purchase an order of Korean fried chicken. Fifty percent of the profits from the day will go toward the Greek organization’s philanthropy of choice. The final total will be counted on the final day of the competition with an additional $500 going to the philanthropy of the top organization.

“Greek orgs are so passionate about their philanthropic efforts so it wasn’t hard getting orgs to participate,” Jackson said. “Each org had to create its flyer for the event, and it’s exciting to see how involved every org has been”

Jackson and Rodriguez explained how giving back to the community is a big part of the company as Lee launched philanthropic events within the first few months of opening.

“He just has such a giving attitude and is always looking for ways to help the community, so when we pitched this idea, he was all for it,” Jackson said.

“[Lee] loves helping those in the State College area partly because he is a Penn State alum and because it’s just the type of person he is,” Jackson continued. “I think he would help the community in any place he lived but also loves giving back to the community that has given so much to him.”

Rodriguez said the event came naturally to them as they are both in Greek orgs.

“After THON, I saw how passionate the fraternities and sororities were, and we saw this as a great way to keep that momentum going, so we approached Andy with this idea,” Rodriguez said. “He was completely for it and let us take the reins on leading this event.”

Jackson also commented on Lee’s efforts toward partnering with larger companies in the area.

“I think Andy is fueled by helping as many people as possible,” she said. “I know he’s trying to work with more restaurants downtown as well as in the State College area to have a larger impact on the community.”

Lee also partnered with influencers at Penn State, like Jackson, to spread his message to those within the Penn State community who aren’t aware of Tasty K’s ongoing fundraisers.

“It’s also really important that you don’t have to say you’re there for your Greek org, so even members of our community can help raise money for an amazing cause,” Lee said.