Fraternity, sorority members help build home

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October 12, 2008

By E'LYSE BETTERS The Press Republican Sun Oct 12, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

â Fraternity, sorority work with Habitat for Humanity to offer help to single mother

KEESEVILLE -- Pi Alpha Nu and Delta Phi Epsilon banded together recently to help build a home for a local single mother and her daughter.

The Plattsburgh State fraternity and sorority members volunteered to work with Champlain Valley Habitat for Humanity to drywall, landscape and carpet a house in Keeseville.

"We had about 30 sisters volunteer; that's about 90 percent of our chapter," said Paige Brower, coordinator of public relations for Delta Phi Epsilon. "We worked for about four hours and had a blast."

The sorority became involved with Habitat for Humanity through Pi Alpha Nu, which has extensively volunteered for the charitable organization for about five years.

"Habitat for Humanity is one of our main philanthropies," said Greg Fitzgerald, president of the fraternity. "We've been helping them with the house in Keeseville for about two years, and we've been working to build it since last fall."

Champlain Valley Habitat for Humanity is a locally run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization.

Habitat for Humanity assists people in need by building and renovating decent, affordable housing. The homes are then sold to the families at no profit and with no interest charged.

Volunteers provide most of the labor, and individual and corporate donors supply the money and materials needed to build the homes. The people who will live in the home also have to help with construction-related activities.

The fraternity and sorority members spent most of their time leveling the front yard, building a shed, tiling a bathroom, carpeting rooms and plastering walls.

"We had 10 brothers there," Greg said. "Habitat for Humanity divided us into smaller groups and gave each of us a project. I think we had three guys outside, and the rest of us were doing work on the inside of the home."

As part of their Greek-life requirements, Delta Phi Epsilon and Pi Alpha Nu must perform a number of hours to community service every semester.

"We have tutored at the local schools, cleaned cages at the Humane Society, and we even babysat at the Battle of Plattsburgh this year, Brower said. "But this is our sorority's first time working with Habitat for Humanity, and we just loved it."

Dana McBride, coordinator of community service for Delta Phi Epsilon, said her experience with Habitat for Humanity was "fun and rewarding."

She anticipates working with the organization again in the near future.

"The girls and me already agreed that we should do it again. It was cool, and it's a great way to volunteer and get community-service hours."

The house in Keeseville isn't finished yet, but Fitzgerald expects it to be completed soon, especially with the abundance of labor provided by the fraternity and sorority.

"We've been working on it for a while, and I think it's in the final stages at this point. This mother and daughter will be very lucky people because the home is coming along nicely. It just looks great."