Last year, when Western Kentucky University’s chapter of Phi Gamma Delta held its first water balloon fight for charity, fraternity brother Seth Cook remembers the balloons raining down for 15 to 20 minutes.

“It was just really fun,” said Cook, a senior in the Chi Eta chapter, also known as FIJI. “When you’re done, you’re just completely soaked.”

This year’s Bowling Green Balloon Battle will be at 10 p.m. Friday at the intramural sports complex at WKU’s South Campus. Anyone can participate and admission is $10.

Proceeds this year will go to United Service Organizations, a nonprofit that provides live entertainment and other programs to members of the U.S. armed forces and their families. FIJI is raising $5,000 for the USO, and supporters can donate at wku.crowdchange.co/4128.

“This is just a way to give back to our community,” said Harrison Garden, philanthropy chair of FIJI.

Last year, the fraternity raised about $1,200 for hurricane relief and filled up about 40,000 balloons.

This year, it’s shooting for roughly 70,000 balloons and has been working toward that goal since last week.

Inspired by a similar event organized by the Christian Student Fellowship at the University of Kentucky, fraternity brothers are using filling stations outfitted with nine spouts to help speed up the process. Each brother has been asked to fill 500 balloons to help the fraternity achieve its goal. “That’s working out really well,” said Garden, a sophomore.

The fraternity is working to surpass last year’s success while making the event more engaging, chapter president Jonathan Greene said.

“We’re hoping to have more community involvement,” said Greene, a senior.

He added FIJI is “just trying to engage the community as much as we can.”

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.