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MSU greek life makes an effort to help Flint

February 7, 2016
Members of Sigma Alpha Mu hold signs that demonstrate the efforts they made donating water on Jan. 29, 2016 in Flint, Mich. Photo courtesy Jacob Gordon.
Members of Sigma Alpha Mu hold signs that demonstrate the efforts they made donating water on Jan. 29, 2016 in Flint, Mich. Photo courtesy Jacob Gordon. —

Specifically, some chapters within MSU’s greek life have been making an effort to help by starting GoFundMe pages to raise money, holding other fundraisers or by donating cases of bottled water.

International relations junior and Sigma Alpha Mu philanthropy chair Jacob Gordon said the Flint water crisis hits close to home for the brothers.

Sigma Alpha Mu, a relatively new fraternity, jumped right in with the philanthropy.

Gordon said out of 30 brothers, three hail from the city of Flint.

“This is a fundamental right ... water,” Gordon said. “You can’t cook with this water, you can’t bathe with this water.”

Gordon said the group started a GoFundMe page and donated all the proceeds to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

He said the fraternity has raised about $6,500 for Flint aid in addition to donating cases of bottled water for the YMCAs in Flint.

Gordon said the food bank was overwhelmed with actual cases of water, so the brothers were asked to give a monetary donation.

Another fraternity to put in effort for relief was Pi Kappa Alpha.

The fraternity created a similar page to raise money for the city of Flint.

Members of Pi Kappa Alpha were calling upon other chapters of the fraternity, community members, sororities and other fraternities for donations on MSU’s greek life page.

In addition to the fraternities, Sigma Delta Tau sorority has also donated cases of water to an already up and running GoFundMe page located out of Lansing.

“Community service is something that’s very important to us,” Sigma Delta Tau president Lauren Abrahamson said. “With such a huge crisis that is so close to home, we kind of felt like it was our duty.”

Abrahamson said the chapter has yet to do a drop-off to Flint, but plans to remain involved in helping to combat the water crisis and struggles people in the city are having.

“Just the little things can do amazing things for other people,” Abrahamson said.

Sigma Delta Tau has donated about 11 cases of bottled water.

“Their families, their siblings are living through this,” Gordon said. “I’m able to turn on my sink and not have a problem and brush my teeth.”

Gordon said a donation was also made to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Flint to assist undocumented residents who are also suffering from the crisis.

MSU’s Latino community started a GoFundMe page to assist undocumented residents who cannot obtain water because of their lack of identification.

“How basic of an issue it was makes it really easy to get behind,” Gordon said.

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