Once the last final is turned and the academic year is completed students start dispersing to the various places they call home, every thought of school rapidly leaves the brain. Students, including Brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha, are now focused on summer jobs, internships, and catching up with friends and family.
With summer recess, the Brothers at the Alpha Chapter of Boston University (BU) are just getting started with an exciting, new service opportunity. The Boston Chapter has begun a year-long, philanthropic initiative and their first service project is to help raise awareness and resources for those with traumatic brain injuries.
In July, the Chapter Members at BU will be participating in the Hit the Deck Challenge with the Plus One Foundation, a nonprofit organization out of Seattle, Washington that assists children and adults with neurological injuries, disorders or diseases to achieve their goals.
Through this 10-day challenge, Chapter Members can pick a unique wellness challenge while fundraising for the Plus One Foundation. The wellness challenge includes activities such as: walking and running, swim, yoga, mediation, stretching, cross-fit, letter writing, gardening, and cycling.
Although the Plus One Foundation is not a typical philanthropic partner of Lambda Chi Alpha, the ties to the mission of the foundation run deep within the Boston Chapter.
Thomas Lehrich (Boston University, ’87 and former High Alpha of the Chapter) contacted the current Members when he learned of the Chapter’s desire to partner with service organizations. He met with Chapter Members and asked if they would be interested in assisting the Plus One Foundation, where he serves as vice president of the board of directors. Nik Marotta, current High Alpha, immediately jumped on the opportunity.
“As soon as we finished a call [Tom and Nik], I looked at the website and just really felt a strong connection to it and wanted to get going on the project,” said Marotta. “I reached out to the Brothers, and they were ecstatic to hear about a new opportunity.”
The Brothers were ready to dig into this new service opportunity, albeit over the summer. To them, service doesn’t have a season.
As the Members have created their fundraising pages, solicited donors and started planning for the challenge, it has been exciting from Lehrich’s point of view to see how current Members and Alumni can truly work together towards a greater cause. He looks forward to how events such as this will help bring together Active Members and Alumni.
“When we have some more shared experiences [like working together on fundraisers], it really strengthens the bond,” said Lehrich.
Alumni and current Brothers alike are looking forward to taking on the Hit the Deck Challenge where dollars raised will be used towards resources such as aquatic therapy, horse riding therapy, education about different kinds of brain injuries, and supplies for a pen pal program.
Lehrich has already seen the program develop mentorship opportunities between students and Alumni and a heightened awareness of the challenges of those with brain injuries.
Not only is the Plus One Foundation benefitting from the hard work of the Boston Chapter, but the Members are reminded that service is important year-round.
“I believe that since this is kind of a grassroots organization that’s growing and helping people, it’s a major thing for us to be a part of,” said Marotta. “We feel that giving back to our communities is huge.”
