From packaging meals at local food banks to pushup-based fundraisers for charity, several Indiana University fraternities spent the last two months organizing a mix of community service and fundraising efforts across campus and the city.
The efforts reflect a broader push within the IU Interfraternity Council to make both service and philanthropy more central to Greek life, following a February IU IFC meeting, where chapter leaders reviewed their organizations’ strengths and weaknesses.
IFC Vice President of Communications Max Moxley said about 60% of council representatives believed their chapters needed to do more to promote philanthropy.
Chapters responded by shifting efforts towards philanthropic events. IU’s chapter of Acacia, Pi Lambda Phi, Sigma Pi and Theta Chi introduced events focused on charity or volunteering.
Indiana Acacia fraternity organized a weeklong “Seven Days of Service” initiative from Feb. 24 through March 2, part of a broader program adopted by Acacia chapters across the country.
The IU chapter partnered with organizations and businesses including Hoosier Hills Food Bank, New Hope for Families and Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, where it hosted a dine-and-donate event Feb. 28.
Members packaged canned goods and cereal into meal kits at the food bank, and they completed maintenance work, including mulching and moving furniture, at New Hope for Families, an organization that provides emergency shelter and early childhood education programs for families experiencing homelessness. The chapter also conducted cleanup efforts along Kirkwood Avenue and at Griffy Lake.
The initiative also included a weeklong canned food drive, where members collected more than 75 donations for Hoosier Hills Food Bank and Community Kitchen of Monroe County, according to Acacia chapter President Hank Temples. The chapter contributed more than 300 service hours over the course of the week, Temples said.
Temples said the initiative was part of an effort to emphasize hands-on service within the chapter, particularly as Acacia works to reestablish itself on campus. The fraternity was suspended from campus from July 2021 to August 2024 for dishonest conduct, endangering others, hazing, destruction of property, alcohol and failure to comply with COVID-19 directives and Office of Student Life policies. The chapter officially returned to campus in Fall 2025. The “Seven Days of Service” initiative was focused on direct involvement in the community rather than relying primarily on fundraising or donations.
“Being there in person, shaking someone’s hand, helping them however they need it, whether it’s packaging up their food supplies or moving mulch, is more impactful than just sending money somewhere,” Temples said.
Meanwhile, Pi Lambda Phi fraternity centered its efforts on a campus-based fundraiser aimed at engaging the broader student body, chapter president Atticus Hunter said.
The chapter hosted its annual “Pushups Against Prejudice” event Feb. 27, where members completed pushups to raise donations for the Special Olympics Indiana. For example, participants performed three pushups for a $1 donation, tracking totals on a whiteboard as contributions came in throughout the afternoon.
About 15 fraternity members participated, along with several students who joined while passing by Dunn Meadow. Including donations collected after the event, the chapter completed more than 4,000 pushups and raised $1,600 for the cause, Hunter said.
Sigma Pi focused on hands-on volunteer work through partnerships with local organizations. The fraternity sent nearly 50 members to help with operations at Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which sells donated home goods and building materials, on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, philanthropy chair Braylon McRoberts said.
Members cleaned appliances, including refrigerators and stoves, washed windows and floors and cleared debris from outside the building. They also handled donation intake, unloading items such as couches, tools and light fixtures from vehicles before preparing them for sale, McRoberts said.
Inside the store, volunteers split between front-of-house and behind-the-scenes work, organizing inventory, repairing items and stocking sections.
McRoberts said the effort was inspired by his own experience volunteering at the ReStore, where he had worked for several weekends. He said he organized the larger chapter event with the goal of bringing a larger group into the store to help with tasks staff and regular volunteers often do not have time to complete.
In early March, Sigma Pi worked with RedCapes Bloomington, a non-profit IU student-led organization tackling food security, to collect nonperishable food items and clothing for the Salvation Army.
While Sigma Pi focused on hands-on volunteer work, Theta Chi efforts centered on direct outreach. The fraternity organized a service effort Feb. 22 that supported Wheeler Mission Bloomington, an emergency shelter.
About 50 members packaged supplies, including sweatshirts, hats, gloves, hand warmers, toiletries and food kits, according to freshman Andrew Hall, who organized the effort.
A smaller group then picked up breakfast sandwiches before delivering the items to Wheeler Mission.
Afterward, members walked down Kirkwood Avenue before heading to the Monroe County Public Library, where individuals experiencing homelessness had gathered indoors during cold weather conditions, to distribute the remaining food and supplies.
Hall said the event was designed to provide immediate support for those individuals.
As different chapters continue to expand their efforts, Moxley said the IFC aims to make service a defining part of the fraternity experience at IU.
“We want the best for the Bloomington community,” Moxley said. “We’re very proud to be here and to serve our community.”
