Frat Funds Turkey Dinners

Amid crowds of anti-Yale T-shirt vendors and “Takeover” party promoters outside the Science Center last week, fraternity brothers from Sigma Chi were hawking for a needier cause. They raised $1,266 for the United Way’s Thanksgiving Project, enough to provide holiday feasts of turkey, stuffing, and pie for 21 families in the Boston area.

Anthony J. Valente ’07, who organized the efforts for the fraternity, said he was shocked by the large response from Harvard students, having expected to raise just a few hundred dollars.

“I can’t tell you how many kids said they were happy to help,” Valente said. “I think it really says a lot about the community we have here.”

The money raised went to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, which coordinated the project with the Salvation Army. More than $55,000 in donations were collected across the region.

The Salvation Army identified families in need and provided space to distribute the food. Volunteers from the United Way handed out more than 100,000 pounds of Thanksgiving food on Saturday to more than 1,200 families.

Sigma Chi’s contribution is part of a broader effort by the fraternity to get more involved in community service projects this year.

Emily J. Levitt, development assistant for major gifts at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, said Sigma Chi’s donation was a helpful boost to buy all the food needed for Saturday’s event.

“We’re so appreciative of what they’ve done,” she said. When members of the fraternity showed up at Levitt’s office on Thursday with their check, “I must have run around the office telling everyone about it,” she recalled.

Levitt said most funds for the Thankgiving Project came from individual donors who support United Way’s annual campaign. Sigma Chi was the first group to contribute to the project.

Sigma Chi members pride themselves on the fraternity’s emphasis on community service.

“We’re not your typical fraternity,” said Elie R. Balesh ’07, community service coordinator for Sigma Chi. “We’re more of a value-based, character building organization. Giving back to the community is a really fundamental aspect of what it means to be a Sigma Chi member.”

Balesh said Sigma Chi has extended its efforts to help the community this fall. Currently three brothers volunteer at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter every Thursday night. In October, the fraternity co-sponsored a party with the Delta Gamma sorority to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

For its next community service endeavor, Sigma Chi plans to collaborate with the Children’s Miracle Network to raise money for Children’s Hospital in Boston. They will collect money, toys, and clothing after Thanksgiving and continuing through the holiday season.

“It’s nice to see college students that are invested in making a difference in the Boston community,” Levitt said.