Members of Greek fraternities and Charleston police officers will face off in the first Hoops for Kids Charity basketball game tonight.

Proceeds from the game will be split 50/50 between two charities.

One charity is Don Bosco Nogales, a school near the border in Sonora, Mexico, that provides children on the streets with food, shelter and education.

The second charity is the local Shop with a Cop program run by the local Charleston Police Department that was established 17 years ago. Charleston officers take local children in need on a shopping excursion in December to provide them with necessities they may otherwise not receive. Since it’s beginning, it has helped more than 2,500 local children.

Hank Pauls, Lieutenant and president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 88, is participating in the event. He said the department puts on the event for two reasons. “To provide the children with things they need, such as warm clothes and (because we are) in the spirit of giving, they receive something nice for themselves too.”

Pauls also saw the event as a benefit to the kids and campus community in another way.

“It brings us down to earth,” Pauls said. “And when we interact with the community, people see us in a completely different setting whereas when they are in a crisis.”

Police officers will interact with students on a personal level as they form a 15-man team against members of Sigma Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities. The game will consist of two 20-minute halves with a halftime show. Tickets for the 50/50 raffle will be available at the door and the winner will be announced at halftime.

David Ziebler, a senior psychology major, is the philanthropy chair for the Sigma Pis and is helping to organize the event. His goal is to sell 400 tickets to raise $1,000 for each charity, and to make this an annual fundraiser.

“Thousand dollars is a lofty goal, but in Mexico that is 10,000 pesos, which can go a long way,” Ziebler said. “That can feed 10 kids for a month, two months or buy a new computer. Although it is a lofty goal, the problems these children are facing are much loftier.”

Ziebler encourages everyone to come.

“If we can get together as a campus community and just spend $5 and an hour of our time, then the outcome of that would be amazing,” he said.

The game will be in Lantz Arena at 8:30 p.m. with doors opening at 8 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased for $5 at the Sigma Pi house or at the door.