By Emma Russell
Copy Editor
Collaborating to collect food for the Kent County Food Pantry, the brothers of the Kappa Sigma and Phi Delta Theta fraternities tabled in Hodson Hall from Monday, March 6 through Friday, March 11.
Members from both organizations manned the shared table in shifts from 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. to catch the lunch rush. They returned later in the day, from 4 p.m. through 6 p.m., to catch students on their way to dinner.
Non-perishable items such as canned or boxed goods were accepted, as well as cash donations that will be used by the brothers to purchase specific items most wanted by the Kent County Food Pantry. This list includes toothpaste, hand soap, sugar, pancake mix, and coffee packets, according to both organizations’ respective Instagram posts.
Located in Christ United Methodist Church on the corner of High and Mill Streets, the Kent County Food Pantry is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon. According to their website, they aim to “ensure that all qualified clients in Kent County receive sufficient food to meet their basic nutritional needs.”
The idea to have a food drive came from the Philanthropy Chair of Phi Delta Theta junior Connor Cooper. Kappa Sigma co-service chair senior Sam Mobley approached him about a potential collaboration.
Phi Delta Theta’s national philanthropy is raising awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS, but Cooper wanted to do an event “to give back to the community and to the places closer to us.”
The brothers of Kappa Sigma, whose national philanthropy is the Military Heroes Campaign, also wanted to give back to Chestertown.
“We wanted to do a [collaboration] with the Phi Delts that really benefited the local community specifically, and a food pantry fundraiser is something that everybody can get behind,” said Co-Service Chair of Kappa Sigma senior Dylan Snow.
The fundraiser also gives both fraternities a chance to strengthen their inter-fraternal bonds and learn more about each organization’s values and members.
“It gives us an excuse to get to know more people and be social [with] them while also having a tangential impact and benefiting the community around us,” Snow said.
According to Mobley, Kappa Sigma has been looking forward to collaborating with Phi Delta Theta for a while.
“We’re excited. We’ve been looking forward to this event…we’re glad we’re finally able to do it and get more acquainted with the Phi Delta fraternity on our end,” Mobley said.
The food fundraiser was Cooper’s first service event and acted as a learning opportunity.
He said that he got the chance to become familiar with the skills needed to host and run events including communication, money organization, creating graphics, logistics, and planning. He hopes to implement these next semester when he takes on Phi Delta Theta’s annual Crab Feast.
“I just joined the fraternity last semester, so it’s been really cool to see just how the fraternity works and learn how to set up an event because I really had no idea,” Cooper said.
The fraternities raised $250 to purchase the Kent County Food Pantry’s most needed items.
Cooper, Mobley, and Snow said each of their respective organizations is willing to collaborate on future philanthropic events.
“I would absolutely be open to working with Kappa Sig or with any of the sororities, especially because Greek life here needs to support each other,” Cooper said.
Mobley mirrored Cooper’s sentiments and hopes to plan more joint events in the future. “[The food drive] has gone better than I think it was going to,” Mobley said. “So, I think it’d be fun if we could all do a more hands-on service event together, like maybe planting trees or doing a more activity-based service event.”
To keep up to date with both fraternities’ service events, you can follow them on their respective Instagram accounts, @wacphidelt and @kappasigwac.
Photo by Heather Fabritze
Photo Caption: Fraternity members like Kappa Sigma brothers sophomore Alex Hall and junior Matt Brader tabled to encourage donations from students passing through Hodson Hall.