Over 100 frosh participate in IFC-sponsored service day
By Neil J. Ross
Last Saturday over 100 freshmen from fraternities, sororities and independent living groups joined in a concerted community service effort. Organized by the InterFraternity Council, the event was run under the umbrella of the IFC social committee and conceived as an opportunity for freshmen from different houses to meet and work with one another.
There were five projects. Some participants (including upperclassmen) arrived at 9 am to help with the Kenmore Square community fair. Alpha Chi Omega ran a face painting booth at the event, which was coordinated by the Kenmore Square Neighborhood Organization.
In the Cambridge area roughly 25 freshmen were involved in two projects. One was in Porter Square where students assisted a meal program. The other was in Central Square where freshmen repaired a church.
Aging Concerns, a Boston-based service organization for the elderly, was helped out by about 20 new students, who donated their time to sand and paint a building which is being renovated as a home for the elderly.
As part of Coast Week, a natural environmental awareness program focusing on the seaside, MIT Sea Grant directed another group of 25 volunteers to clean East Boston Beach, a project organized by Save the Harbor Save the Bay. The IFC party was not the only MIT group involved in a coastal project last weekend, as 14 members of the service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, were at the Bell Isle Marsh helping in the management of that area. The coastal projects are part of a state-wide program running from Sept. 16 to Oct. 9 by Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program and involving upwards of 2700 people.
The whole day's events drew volunteer freshmen from 14 living groups. Two groups, Sigma Chi and Kappa Sigma, had 100 percent participation from their new members, and Sigma Phi Epsilon had 13 out of 14 of their newly-pledged members.
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