Members of Wabash's Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity took a break from studying for final exams to deliver checks to local charitable agencies Tuesday. The group donated $1,425, proceeds from concession sales at football and basketball games, to the Animal Welfare League, Family Crisis Shelter, and Head Start.
The Delta Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, advised for the last 20 years by Terri Fyffe and Larry Frye, generates proceeds from the sale of concessions at Wabash football and basketball games, which are donated to local charities and service agencies. APO's mission is to "promote friendship and provide Service to humanity; and to further the freedom that is our national, educational and intellectual heritage."
Bob Boarman, Robert Newkirk, and Filip Drambarean, along with Frye, took a break from studying Tuesday to visit the Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Family Crisis Shelter (photo at the top) and the Animal Welfare League (photo below) to drop off checks for $475. The same amount will be donated to Head Start.
Anita Byers, who directs the services provided by the Family Crisis Shelter, happily accepted the check and said, "I wish I could tell you that the need was dropping, but unfortunately, I cannot." The Family Crisis Shelter serves approximately 250 families seeking shelter from abusive households each year. The facility houses families, mostly women and children, for short and extended periods of stay, and includes apartment-style living quarters and group living arrangements.
Toby Kahl and Tosha Falconbury welcomed the APO members to the Animal Welfare League's facility on Big Four Arch Road. There, the students also saw a familiar face in Dottie McCormick, who works as the College's switchboard operator and as an assistant in Goodrich Hall. She spends several hours after work each day at the Shelter, caring for needy cats and dogs. McCormick worked with Wabash's faculty rock band to generate about $500 for the shelter and has sold "paws" from her office in Goodrich Hall, which to date has generated an additional $125.
Kahl explained to the students that "on good days, we might have three or four adoptions, but there are days when nobody comes in at all." He told the Wabash men that Saturdays are big and busy days at the shelter, but that there is a waiting period for all new adoptions. "When people make quick decisions about adopting a pet, a lot of times those animals come right back to us," said Kahl.
There were about two dozen dogs, most of mixed breed, in the facility when APO visited, plus nine puppies from a single mixed breed litter. The shelter is also housing about two dozen cats with more on the way; a very pregnant feline will give birth any day.
The Delta Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Omega logs close to 1,000 hours of service to the community each year. The Community Service Committee of the College makes an annual award to honor the student who has done the most outstanding service during his time at Wabash. This year's winner was Raul Gonzalez.