Philanthropy Update

The brainchild of Brother Neil Sobin (Delta Delta '11), the pumpkin carving event at the local Ray Elementary School was a large success. Brothers went to Ray Elementary with 50 pumpkins early in the morning and carved pumpkins for about 45 of the school's "star" students. Brothers and pledges were amicable towards the children and listened to every request the students made--including one that involved carving the effigy of an alligator. Almost the entire brotherhood was able to show up for a one hour shift and the children loved it. Unique in that DKE actively organized the entire event by itself without any involvement by a third party, the pumpkin carving event increased DKE's awareness around the local community and solidified the tight bonds currently present within the brotherhood. In one day, DKE brothers accumulated 53 total hours of community service, with three brothers present for the entire event from beginning to end (Aldo Arnone, Roman Sanders, & Eddie Huang).

Late in October, DKE once again assisted ARCUC (The American Red Cross of the University of Chicago) in organizing, setting up, and manning this year's Fall Blood Drive in Ida Noyes. Throughout the course of a week and a half, DKE brothers accumulated 45 hours of service by helping ARCUC table in the Reynold's Club, Cobb Hall, and Bartlett--in addition to administering aid to donors during the Blood Drive. ARCUC was extremely glad we helped--they acquired 20 more donors than usual--and now can look forward to our assistance again in the Spring.

As for future service projects, the brothers of the Delta Delta chapter are currently hoping to help tutor local students on a regular basis at a nearby school on 62nd and Woodlawn. Each week, at least two DKE brothers will be expected to devote 2 hours of their time after school to helping students K-8 with their basic schooling needs. The next large-scale community service event will be a joint project with the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, most likely an event serving the homeless in the nearby community. The current pledge class has organized an upcoming Canned Food Drive spanning a total of two weeks, and Alpha Omega Pi is already looking forward to working with us next quarter. As always, DKE Week looms large, and discussions have already begun about the logistics of the week-long event in the Spring. Finally, Brother Jeffrey Kowar has set the brotherhood up with one more large service project involving park cleanup at a large park in nearby Chicago. As of right now, the event is scheduled for the Spring.

-Brother Huang (DD '11)