Greek organizations paired with nonprofits for service partnerships

LAWRENCE — The second annual Fraternity, Sorority, Community (FSC) Service Partnership kicked off last month, matching 25 fraternities and sororities with nonprofit organizations from the Lawrence area for yearlong service partnerships that will begin fall 2017.

The purpose of the FSC Service Partnership is to connect greek letter organizations at the University of Kansas with Lawrence community organizations for partnerships that are meaningful to both sides. The program is supported by the Center for Civic and Social Responsibility (CCSR) and the Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) program of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.

“This initiative shows our students the importance of building relationships with community organizations,” said John Augusto, director for the CCSR. “Our intent is to create a long-lasting relationship between organizations so that our Lawrence community organizations are supported by the KU greek letter organizations.”

“The FSC Service Partnership is all about fostering and cultivating these lasting relationships between FSL and community partners,” said Amy Long, associate director of Fraternity and Sorority Life. “This is only our second annual match, but there are already organizations and community agencies that had such a great experience over the first year that they wanted to pair again – that is exactly where we hoped this would be headed.”

In March, the CCSR and FSL put out a call for greek organizations and community partners to complete an application to be part of the initiative. To be paired, each fraternity, sorority, or community partner indicated the kinds and amount of volunteering in which they were interested. The resulting partnerships were announced and celebrated April 21 at a Match Day event, hosted by the CCSR and FSL. Students and community partner representatives gathered in newly created pairs or continuing partnerships and began developing their service plans for the fall. Each partner signed a contract to fulfill their service responsibilities to one another.

The Center for Civic and Social Responsibility fosters learning experiences that develop civic agency, address social challenges and cultivate a shared commitment to the public good. Since 1873, Fraternity and Sorority Life has grown to become a vital part of the history and tradition of KU. Today, the greek community represents more than 4,200 students (20 percent of the undergraduate student population) and 45+ different Greek organizations. Each of these organizations is a member of one of the four governing councils; the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and the Panhellenic Association (PHA).

The partnerships are listed below: 

• Alpha Chi Omega and TFI Family Services Inc.
• Alpha Delta Pi and CCO Daily Bread
• Alpha Gamma Delta and CCO CREATE
• Beta Theta Pi and CCO Earth
• Delta Chi and Just Food of Douglas County
• Delta Gamma and Senior Resource Center for Douglas County
• Delta Sigma Theta and CCO GROW
• Delta Tau Delta and Positive Bright Start
• Gamma Phi Beta and Communities in Schools of Mid-America
• Kappa Delta and Just Food of Douglas County
• Kappa Kappa Gamma and Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence 
• Lambda Chi Alpha and Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence 
• Lambda Phi Epsilon and Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Phi Gamma Delta and CCO Ability Advocates 
• Pi Kappa Alpha and CCO CAAS
• Pi Kappa Phi and Lawrence Means on Wheels, Inc.
• Sigma Alpha Epsilon and The Shelter, Inc.
• Sigma Chi and CCO HUG
• Sigma Delta Tau and Friends of the Lawrence Public Library
• Sigma Kappa and Brandon Woods @ Alvamar
• Sigma Nu and Independence Inc.
• Sigma Phi Epsilon and Douglas County Special Olympics
• Sigma Psi Zeta and Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Theta Chi and United Way of Douglas County
• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and Positive Bright Start.