Last week, the Baptist Christian Ministry and Delta Sigma Phi at the University of Louisiana-Monroe raised over $1,000 for hurricane relief. They used the fraternity’s weekly lunch as a fundraiser, but ended up meeting their $1,000 goal two days before the lunch.
Delta Sigma Phi has been raising money to buy resources such as water and canned goods, and they’re planning to take a trip down to Lake Charles within the next few weeks to take the items to hurricane victims there. The BCM found out about this and wanted to help.
Associate Director of the BCM, Kayla Frazier, said that when they heard about all the hurricane damage, they knew they wanted to help, but wanted to be cautious because of COVID-19. This event was a great way to assist Delta Sigma Phi in raising money, while also being safe.
“Being a Christian organization, we love people because we love God,” Frazier said. “We also think it’s our responsibility to step in and be the hands and feet of God, and be able to display his love for people.”
The BCM has partnered with different organizations before, but this year they’re trying to reach out more. Especially with recent tragic events, there’s a big need for support and supplies.
“If there are any other organizations on campus that would like to partner up with us, we would love that,” Frazier said.
Sophomores Sydney Scott and Emily Puyear usually attend the BCM’s weekly lunch. They were excited to find out that the money made from this week’s lunch will go towards buying resources for hurricane victims.
“I feel like everybody’s focused on California and the wildfires and nobody really knows about what’s happening down here,” Puyear said. “We need things like this right now. We need continued relief,” Scott added.
Even with the rain, there was a steady flow of students that went to the BCM. According to Nick Johnson, philanthropy and event chair of Delta Sigma Phi, the event turned out better than expected.
“At first, I didn’t know how big this whole event was going to get, but it’s actually blown up bigger than I thought it was, Johnson said. “We exceeded our goal once, and we set a new goal. Now we are pushing towards that strongly.”
