It was a day of charity for the various Greek organizations on campus last week. All the councils representing the different fraternities and sororities on campus sent representatives to the Northeastern Louisiana Food Bank to build boxes.
Last Tuesday, the Greeks came together for a common goal, to help the food bank. For two hours, the students gathered at the food bank and built boxes that are to be used to pack food at the bank.
Allison Crotwell, the coordinator of Student Development, said “It’s often easy to focus on the negative headlines associated with Greek life on campus, but the nice things have to be highlighted as well.”
“These young adults are leaving lasting positive impressions on the communities they serve, and I am proud to be their advisor,” Crotwell said.
The Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana supplies food to those in need in the area. According to them, over 71,000 people struggle with hunger in Northeast Louisiana alone. The food bank specifically prefers to combat children’s hunger. According to their website, Northeast Louisiana has 28 percent of food-insecure children by parish.
Phillip Vu-Nguyen a senior health studies major and Interfraternity Council (IFC) vice president of community relations was one of those in attendance at the food bank. He was representing the IFC.
“We were able to form over 1000 boxes in two hours, the boxes will be used to pack food in for the elderly,” Vu-Nguyen said.
Greek Life’s visit to the food bank was intended for volunteers; nobody was required to go. Hearing about the opportunity to help their community, students flocked to the food bank. One such student was Regginald Good, a junior pre-pharmacy major, who heard about the event at the Nation Pan-Hellenic Council meeting and was onboard from the beginning.
“I want to uphold my fraternity’s mission to provide service for our community,” Good said.
Outside of doing community services, Good was inspired by the sense of unity garnered by the event at the food bank.
“It was encouraging to see students from different organizations and backgrounds working together towards one common goal,” Good said.
Unity and lending a helping hand were also reasons sophomore communications major Brooke Keen went to the food bank with the rest of Greek Life.
Keen’s journey to the bank was a little different than the rest of her peers. A friend of hers couldn’t make it to the event so Keen went in her place.
“I went in the place of someone who couldn’t make it to help her out,” Keen said.
Although replacing her friend, Keen still enjoyed her time at the food bank.
“It was a great experience. I didn’t realize how much I could actually do for others with only an hour of my time,” Keen said.
It was her first time at the food bank. Keen said she usually likes to volunteer at an animal shelter, but she enjoyed the new experience.
According to Crotwell, Greek Life has various plans to do community services throughout the semester. Among these plans, trips to the food bank are included.
Greek Life members spend a large portion of their time giving back to the community. Their philanthropic endeavors account for hundreds of hours of community service.