Greek fraternities and sororities made the most of the two weeks they were given, stuffing hundreds of bags full of school supplies for needy kids around Tangipahoa Parish. For added interest, the event was also counted as part of the Greek Week festivities with the fraternity/sorority pairing that collected the most, winning the school supply drive.
The event was organized by the Order of Omega and was also brought forth by Delta Tau Delta members Christopher Simoneaux and Blake Thomas.
“Order of Omega organized it,” said Simoneaux, a sophomore marketing major. “It’s called the Summer Blast Project. I found out about it through Dr. Paul Hebert. It raises school supplies for Tangipahoa Parish school kids, so when they exit in the summer they can get a bag of school supplies in order to keep them learning during the summer. They’ll also have school supplies to go into the next school semester. With that, they’ve gotten book sacks, they’re getting school supplies and people are donating money. It’s really a community event. It’s pretty awesome.”
Each bag contained several different items, and some items could be swapped out.
“Well, in each bag you must have a notebook, a coloring book, colored pencils, markers, a sharpener and a glue stick,” said Madison Pullen, a freshman communications major and member of Phi Mu. “You can interchange some of them out, like crayons for markers.”
Senior marketing major and Kappa Alpha Order president Kent Landacre made sure Kappa Alpha remained among the top of the leader board.
“I know we’ve spent probably about 800 bucks on school supplies,” said Landacre. “I’m not sure about Theta Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi, that’s who we’re paired with, but that’s how much KA’s donated.”
During the collection of school supplies, Landacre and junior athletic training major Kellen Manor believed that Kappa Alpha sat high atop the standings, possibly as high as second or third.
The grouping of Theta Xi, Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Mu also believed they were sitting high atop the leader board for Greek Week.
“We have over 200 bags, probably close to 240, with six items in each bag,” said Pullen.
The pairing of Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Gamma Rho and Phi Beta Sigma held a similar number.
“We have over 200 bags, and about six bags cost 40 bucks,” said Alpha Omicron Pi member and junior nursing major Taylor Moore. “Well we won the Greek Games, which consisted of tug-of-war and ships and sailors, so we feel pretty strong that we’re on top.”