Boulder, COLO. (March 2016) –The members of the Gamma-Tau Chapter of Kappa Sigma in Boulder have nearly reached their goal of 5,000 community service hours this academic year - the most in nearly four years. As part of a rebuilding initiative, the chapter leadership asked its members to make giving back to the community a regular part of their time as students in Boulder. Since then, over 130 members have fully embraced their commitment to service, volunteering an average of 25 hours of service per man and raising over $7,000 for charitable causes so far this year. Members have been primarily focused on serving the Boulder community – spending Saturday mornings participating in trash cleanups on The Hill and in Wesley Fellowship Campus Ministry’s community service event Peanut Butter N’ Luvin’, which feeds those in the homeless community.
Members were specifically asked to find opportunities to make a difference with small, but meaningful and rewarding contributions. Junior Evan Mori has logged over 300 hours of community service in his two years as a member of Kappa Sigma. Most of his hours are in small increments, volunteering with students at University Hill Elementary, through a CU program called Boulder Assets. He believes that “one person can’t do everything, but all of us can do something. All of our small efforts combined make a significant difference in our community”.
On Sunday, March 13th, the fraternity held its inaugural Kappa Sigma 3v3 Classic for Denver Schools. Originally an in-house competition organized among members, the chapter’s community service chairman, sophomore Joe Rudolph, took some initiative. “We had already scheduled a 3-on-3 tournament for the brothers, when we realized we had an opportunity to raise money for a good cause. In a few days we quickly turned plans for a pick-up basketball game into a philanthropy,” said Rudolph. Over $1,000 was raised for elementary schools in Denver for school supplies and sports equipment through donations from members, their families, team entry fees and admission fees from CU sororities and other CU-Boulder student spectators who turned-out to support the cause. Twelve teams competed in the tournament where one team, the “Walkers”, came out victorious.
In the coming weeks, members of Kappa Sigma are on course to pass 5,000 hours of community service this year by volunteering for the Pyro Memorial 5k Run/Walk, on April 16th, organized by CU Air Force ROTC. The 5k will take place on the CU Boulder campus, and has been renamed in honor of USAF Captain William "Pyro" Dubois, an alumnus of CU Boulder and standout cadet in Air Force ROTC Detachment 105, who lost his life in Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014. Proceeds from the event benefit the Pyro’s Wings Foundation, which provides financial support through scholarships to Air Force ROTC cadets. As an undergraduate, Captain Dubois was also an influential leader off-campus as a founding member of Kappa Sigma in Boulder, which was reorganized in 2006. Kappa Sigma encourages everyone to support the future aviators in our ROTC program by registering for the race here: https://www.athletepath.com/pyro-memorial-run-5k/2016-04-16