Three. Two. One. A member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity dropped a floor hockey puck in between two players and blew his whistle, signaling the start of game play.
But this wasn’t a normal hockey game with the guys.
On Wednesday night, the brothers of the fraternity spent time playing hockey with special needs children and adults at Beekman Center in Lansing.
Philanthropy chair for Pi Kappa Alpha and marketing sophomore Matt Houghton said he contacted a representative from Special Olympics Michigan to set up a time when the brothers could volunteer.
Houghton said many people think fraternity brothers are more focused on partying, but the brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha do what they can to be involved in the community and banish the negative stereotypes. He chose hockey because many of the brothers were familiar with it.
Area Director of Special Olympics Michigan in Ingham and Eaton Counties Anne Goudie said to get those games in, six of 19 teams played against each other and the brothers.
In addition to playing, Goudie taught the brothers Special Olympics hockey rules and had them assist with refereeing games.
“When we can expose people to persons with intellectual disabilities ... maybe as they become leaders in the community they’ll be the ones who will go out and embrace these athletes and maybe hire some of them or work with them,” Goudie said.
Joined by members of Pi Kappa Alpha were a group of sisters from Kappa Kappa Gamma who also wanted to donate their time to the cause.
Philanthropy chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma and human biology junior Natalie Bick said Houghton contacted her to try and get more members of greek life involved.
“A lot of fundraisers happen through greek life but getting into the community is just as important,” Bick said. “Coming out and doing this, you get to see the direct effect.”
The sisters subbed into the scrimmages, socialized with players and cheered for the teams competing.
“It’s a cool experience to say you did something like this,” Bick said. “It’s something a lot of people don’t know about and whenever they do hear people doing it, it’s cool.”
