FDU gives back: Community raises more than $26,000 for charities

By Julie Kayzerman

July 22, 2019 — From charitable donations and volunteer work to raising awareness for causes and committing acts of kindness, the Fairleigh Dickinson University community gave back in a big way during the Spring 2018-19 semester.

Students at FDU’s Florham and Metropolitan campuses raised more than $26,572 for different charities and medical research causes. Of the money raised, $20,715 went to medical research foundations. They also volunteered with or served 72 different organizations, raised awareness for 28 causes and ran 16 different acts of kindness initiatives.

Here’s a full breakdown of how FDU made its mark last spring by giving back.

Medical Donations

• NYU Langone Health Blood & Marrow Transplant Program
  • $2,800 raised in part by Sigma Chi Fraternity (Flor) to provide exercise equipment to the patients in memory of Andrew Casale
• American Heart Association
  • $2,500 raised by Theta Phi Alpha Fraternity (Flor)
• Breast cancer research
  • $2,681 raised by Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity (Flor)
• The Autism Community in Action (TACA)
  • $2,300 raised by the Devils Athletics administration and coaching staff
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
  • $2,035 raised by Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority (Flor)
• Children’s Miracle Network
  • $300 raised by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Flor)
  • $300 raised by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Metro)
• Jude’s Cancer Research
  • $1,200 raised by Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (Flor)
  • $50 raised by Sigma Pi Fraternity (Metro)
  • $50 raised by Lambda Theta Alpha Sorority (Metro)
• Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation
  • $1,244 raised by the Knights Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
• Lupus Foundation of America
  • $122 raised by Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro)
• Mental Health America
  • $200 raised by Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority (Flor)
• Kicking Cancer with Kait
  • $2,800 raised for a local woman with stage IV sarcoma by Colleges Against Cancer (Flor)
• Smile Train
  • $250 raised by resident assistants (Flor) to fund a cleft repair surgery for a Somalian child
• Sharsheret Jewish Breast Cancer Organization
  • $304 raised by Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority (Metro)
• Patient with rare genetic disorder
  • $144 raised by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Metro) and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Metro)
• Schambach Strong
  • $610 raised by Devils women’s lacrosse
• Avantus Renal Therapy
  • $560 raised by Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority (Flor)
• Coaches vs. Cancer
  • $50 raised by Devils men’s basketball
• Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
  • $165 raised by Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority (Metro)
• Go4TheGoal
  • $50 raised by Devils men’s basketball

Food Donations

• The Hunger Project
  • $100 raised by Entrepreneur club (Metro)
• Lunch bag Project
  • Omega Phi Chi Sorority, Inc. (Metro) distributed lunch bags to the homeless at Newark Penn Station
• Center for Food Action
  • Food donated by the resident assistants (Metro)
• Hope Community Food Pantry
  • Resident assistants (Metro) donated care kits
• Community in Paterson, N.J.
  • Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. (Flor) handed out care packages
• Homeless community in New York City
  • Catholic Campus Ministry (Flor) gave sandwiches and water to the homeless in NYC once a month

Clothing Donations

• Soles 4 Souls
  • 87 pairs of shoes donated through a drive run by Enactus (Flor)
• “Little Dresses for Haiti”
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Flor) cut and sewed dresses for young girls in Haiti who are affected by poverty
• Hackensack University Medical Center
  • Resident assistants (Metro) made and donated baby blankets to the NICU
• Market Street Mission
  • Clothes donated by EMBA Organizational Behavior and Leadership course taught by Gerry Cleaves, senior lecturer of management

Other Causes

• Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation for School and College Readiness
  • $3,000 raised by Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority (Flor)
• Suicide prevention
  • $235 raised by Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority (Flor) and Sigma Pi Fraternity (Flor)
• Pulsera Project
  • $245 raised by the Latin American Student Organization (Flor)
• Save the Elephants Foundation
  • $167 raised by PAWS (Flor)
• Hackensack Riverkeeper
  • $500 raised by the “Leading Teams” course taught by Kent Fairfield, retired associate professor of management
• Ronald McDonald House
  • $100 raised by the Entrepreneur Club (Metro)
• Special Olympics
  • $1,000 raised by Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity (Flor)
  • $160 raised by Devils Student-Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC)
• YMCA After-School Program
  • Resident assistants (Metro) donated care packages
• Jersey Cares
  • Resident assistants (Metro) donated school supplies through a campus-wide drive
• Vietnam Veterans of America
  • Books donated by the Creative Writing Club (Flor), Iron Horse (Flor) and Student Government Association (Flor)
• Make-a-Wish Foundation
  • $350 raised by Fairleigh Dance Project (Flor)

Volunteer work

Hunger Relief

• First Baptist Church
  • Sigma Pi Fraternity (Metro) fed the homeless
• The Hoboken Shelter
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro) fed the homeless
• YMCA
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro) prepared meals
• Bergen County homeless community
  • National Society of Black Engineers (Metro) conducted a food drive to feed the homeless
• Community FoodBank of New Jersey
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Flor)

Community Service

• St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center
  • Theta Phi Alpha Fraternity (Flor)
  • Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity (Flor)
• Veterans tombstone cleanup
  • FDU Student Veteran Association (Metro and Flor)
• Jersey Battered Women’s Services
  • Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity (Flor) helped JBWS move items into a new transitional housing facility
• Senior living homes
  • Glamour Gals (Flor) visited several senior centers to give makeovers to the residents
  • Sigma Pi Fraternity (Flor) helped teach seniors how to use cellphones and other technology
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Flor) sang, played games and talked with residents
• Center for Hope and Safety
  • Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
• Whittier Elementary School
  • Knights men’s soccer taught children soccer
• Read Across America
  • Devils SAAC read books to students at local schools
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
  • Omega Phi Chi Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
• Boys and Girls Club of Lodi/Hackensack
  • Knight’s men’s basketball ran clinics
• Technical Enrichment and Outreach Program at FDU
  • National Society of Black Engineers (Metro)
• PALS Program
  • Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity (Flor)
• Passaic County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children
  • Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Metro)
• The Madison Area YMCA
  • The Muslim Student Association (Flor) and Pre-Health Society (Flor) made toiletry kits made for the homeless
• Be The Match
  • Devils football ran a bone marrow registration and blood drive
• Jersey City Public School No. 22
  • Devils women’s basketball trained students
• Spectrum 360 Clinic
  • Devils SAAC ran a clinic
• Career Development Office
  • Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
  • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Metro)
• Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter
  • Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Flor)
• The Learning Experience
  • Knights women’s basketball ran drills with students
• N.J. Pride Run and AIDS Walk
  • School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Flor)
• NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York Conference
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro)

Environmental Cleanups

• Campus cleanups
  • FDU Green Club (Flor), Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Flor), Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority (Flor), Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Metro), Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity (Flor) and Greek Senate (Flor), National Society of Collegiate Scholars (Metro), FDU Rotaract (Flor), Devils SAAC, Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
• Hackensack River cleanup
  • Sigma Pi Fraternity (Metro)
  • “Leading Teams” course (Metro)
• Loantaka Brooke Reservation
  • Sigma Pi Fraternity (Flor) and Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity (Flor)
• Sandy Hook, N.J. cleanup
  • Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (Flor) helped with planning
• Mevo
  • Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority Inc. (Metro) volunteered at the farm

• Mental health awareness
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
  • Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority (Flor)
  • Anime Club (Flor)
  • Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity (Flor)
• Anorexia nervosa and associated disorders
  • Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority (Flor) hosted ANAD Week
• Breast cancer awareness
  • Devils baseball
  • Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority (Metro)
• LGBTQ+ rights
  • Spectrum (Metro) and AURA (Flor)
• Diabetes awareness
  • School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Flor)
• Alcohol awareness
  • Hero Campaign (Metro)
  • Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority (Metro)
  • Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Metro)
• Multiple Sclerosis awareness
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro)
• Sexual assault awareness
  • Devils men’s lacrosse
  • Theta Phi Alpha Fraternity (Flor)
• Heart health awareness
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Flor)
  • Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (Flor)
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro)
• Domestic violence awareness
  • Chi Upsilon Sigma Sorority (Metro)
  • Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (Flor)
• Go4TheGoal pediatric cancer awareness
  • Devils men’s basketball
  • Devils softball
• AIDS awareness
  • Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority (Metro)
  • Lambda Sigma Upsilon Fraternity (Metro)
• Lupus awareness
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro)
  • Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity (Metro)
• Self-Care
  • Nubian Ladies (Metro)
  • I Am That Girl (Flor)
  • National Society of Collegiate Scholars (Metro)
  • Pay It Forward (Flor)
  • Office of Campus Life (Flor)
• “It Matters” march
  • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Metro) hosted a march to encourage people to voice concerns about issues close to their hearts
• Black community
  • Nubian Ladies (Metro)
• Female empowerment
  • Nubian Ladies (Metro)
  • I Am That Girl (Flor)
  • Omega Phi Chi Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
• HEADstrong Foundation
  • Women’s lacrosse (Flor)
• Holocaust remembrance
  • Hillel (Flor)
• Women in sports
  • Devils athletics coaches and administration
• Women’s empowerment
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro)
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Metro)
  • Office of Campus Life (Flor)
• Higher education
  • Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (Metro) spoke about the importance of college at local middle and high schools
• Crime Stoppers
  • Knights Athletics Department
• Healthcare professionals
  • Knights Athletics Department
• End the R-word
  • Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity (Flor)
• St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center
  • Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (Flor)
• Social integrity
  • National Society of Collegiate Scholars (Metro)
• Diversity
  • Resident assistants (Flor)

Appreciation Cards

• Women’s appreciation
  • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Metro) passed out cards around campus
  • Resident assistants (Metro) sent cards to the YWCA of Bergen County
• Valentine’s cards:
  • Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority (Metro) sent cards to veterans
  • Resident assistants (Flor) and Colleges Against Cancer (Flor) sent Valentine’s to patients at Morristown Medical Center
  • Resident assistants (Metro) sent cards to patients at Hackensack University Medical Center

• “Nice box”
  • Pay it Forward (Flor)
• Candy deliveries during midterms
  • Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority (Flor)
  • Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority (Metro)
• Donuts given to Public Safety officers and Enrollment services staff
  • Sigma Pi Fraternity (Metro)
• Care packages for students
  • Science club (Flor)
  • Greek Senate (Flor)
  • National Society of Collegiate Scholars (Metro)
• Free ice cream sundae bar for students
  • Pay it Forward (Flor)
• Goodie bags for U.S. troops
  • National Society of Collegiate Scholars to U.S. troops
• Goodie bags for Public Safety officers
  • Resident assistants (Metro)
• Thank you cards to U.S. troops
  • Spectrum (Metro)