Minority greek chapters help out community

Students give back to the community in a myriad of ways, either through volunteering or philanthropic donations. But for some students, this week is a special time of giving.\nThis week, traditionally black sororities and fraternities will focus on service in all parts of the community. \nBrandon Williams, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which governs black greek letter organizations, said he believes it's easy to forget students have an service obligation.\n"As students down here, we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday college life, and too often we forget that there is a world that exists outside of IU ... People are hurting, and dying, and living out in the cold," Williams said. "And until a lot of the global inequalities become equal, then our job isn't done."\nSo, NPHC planned "Service Week," a chance for sororities and fraternities to show their service colors, Williams said.\n"Each day we are doing some type of service to the community," he said. "On Monday, we cleaned our road on Third Street, and today we volunteered at the Bloomington Hospitality House where we did manicures for the elderly, and (Wednesday) we will be volunteering at the Shalom Community Center, which is a daytime homeless shelter."\nEric Williams, president of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, said his group planned the visit to the Bloomington Hospitality House. \n"We played bingo, ate with them, and we gave them manicures," Williams said. "They enjoyed it, and we enjoyed it even more than they did. We're going to try to do it regularly."\nWilliams also said the event taught him something and brought out some unexpected talents of his fraternity brothers.\n"I've never given anyone a manicure before. The guys giving the elderly ladies manicures was interesting," Williams said. "Some of them were good, actually."\nZeta Phi Beta member Stacy Stokes, a senior, said while her sorority is small, it came together Tuesday to clean up Third Street. The sorority worked with Kappa Alpha Psi, but encountered some problems with its first service idea\n"Since it's 'Service Week,' we cleaned up our road," Stokes said. "We ran into a few problems, though. We wanted to do a reading program at Monroe County library, called 'Reading is Fun-damental' but they didn't have space for us."\nStokes said while Third Street is a little cleaner thanks to her group's efforts, the missing litter is secondary. \n"We always have a good time," Stokes said. "It's not even about picking up trash; it's about coming together. It's about unity. We did something good for the community. We gave back."\n-- Contact staff writer Kehla West at krwest@indiana.edu.