This is why we are the ELITE Mu Alpha Chapter.
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Spring 2004 Service Program
On a weekly basis, 6-7 brothers help out in the kitchen of Food & Friends packaging and preparing food for the chronically ill and homebound, mostly AIDS patients.
Kid Power D.C. is Mu Alpha's newest project, just getting off the ground. Each Monday, 4 brothers attend the after school program which encourages children to pursue their dreams, be tolerant of others, and appreciate the history of the city in which they live.
Mary House remains a favorite for Mu Alpha brothers. Two Saturdays this semester we've invited brothers from Eta Phi chapter at American University and they enjoyed themselves immensely. Seeing immediate progress at the houses makes this one of the most rewarding projects we do.
Calvary Women's Shelter is one of the most popular service projects of Mu Alpha currently. The five slots on the sign up sheet fill up almost as soon as it is posted and new brothers especially have made this project fun and appealing. Talking with the women of the shelter, keeping watch over night, and helping the women get off to their jobs and appointments in the morning does not take much effort but provides a different perspective of homelessness. Due to the long hours we spend there, it composes a good number of the hours we accumulate each week.
Every Friday, 4-8 brothers attend Washington Home to talk to the residents of the Alzheimer's ward and break up the monotony of their days in the nursing home. Though the patients may not remember that we were there that day, for three hours they receive undivided attention and are listened to.
The men at CAG continually appreciate the efforts Mu Alpha puts in each Wednesday night. Four or five brothers spend several hours tutoring the men, often so that they may attain their GEDs. The men keep us on our toes by asking each week if we'll be back. If a brother doesn't return the following week, he'll hear about it the next time he volunteers.
Samaritan Inns runs on a more irregular basis, so it fills up quickly when the sign up sheet is posted. It is a lot of fun to plan a menu, buy the ingredients, and prepare a meal to eat with the men at Sam Inns. The real reward comes at the end of the project when brothers get to sit down with the men, eat the meal they have prepared, and get to speak on an informal basis with the participants of the program.
Our efforts in the category of service to the university have remained strong. Five nights per week we run four shuttles from the library steps to their destinations. Many brothers, sometimes as many as 20 at a time, hit the streets of Georgetown with smiles, posters, and cans to collect money for Hoya-Thon. The money raised will be donated in APO's name to the Hoya-Thon total, which will ultimately go to Children's National Medical Center. Hands on D.C. received a good turnout from Mu Alpha last year, and hopefully there will be another hearty troop of volunteers this year when May 1 rolls around.
With our weekly projects, in addition to one-time volunteer events and invitations to attend projects of other chapters, our Mu Alpha brothers are kept quite busy with somewhere to volunteers just about every day of the week.
- Liz Walley, VP Service