Carleton’s Alpha Pi Phi is driven to do charitable work

Charity may not be the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the words sorority and fraternity. But for Greek-letter organizations based out of Carleton University, it is what drives them. Alpha Pi Phi is a testament to this. After putting in more than 1,800 hours of community service, Alpha Pi Phi was named the top philanthropic sorority by Carleton’s Greek Council in April 2014. The organization then decided it was time to take on something bigger. In September 2014, Alpha Pi Phi partnered with Free the Children, taking on their Brick by Brick project. This project aims to raise $10,000 to build a school in Nicaragua. According to UNICEF, 53 per cent of secondary school-aged girls in Nicaragua do not attend school. Education is a core value within Alpha Pi Phi and something the sisters believe every child should have the right to.

“A lot of us take for granted the fact that we go to an amazing university with some of the best professors in the country,” says Carly Crawford, the organization’s philanthropy chair. “After learning about the issue of access to education in Nicaragua, we knew this was a place that needed our help.”

To reach their goal, Alpha Pi Phi put on several charity events throughout the school year, including a charity car wash, a Lego brick fundraiser, a pub night and numerous bake sales. They also set up an online page for the initiative, collecting donations.

“Our goal is that much more difficult because we are primarily looking for donations from Carleton students,” says Lauren Konarowski, vice-president of Alpha Pi Phi. “But that’s what makes it so amazing, because even on a student budget we see people going out of their way to donate to our cause.”

The sorority chose to partner with Jim Keay Ford in April to organize a “Drive 4UR School” event at Carleton on Sept. 12. For every valid testdrive completed at the “Drive 4 UR School” event (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the P12 parking lot), Ford of Canada will donate $20 to Alpha Pi Phi’s cause.

The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), Chil Print & Design, Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and Kappa Sigma Fraternity are just a few of the organizations participating in the “Drive 4UR School” event.