KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — For the second year in a row, a fraternity at Truman State University is choosing to remember their late brother by raising money and awareness in his honor.
This week, Sigma Phi Epsilon had their Golden Heart fundraiser to honor Nate Aldrich, a member of the fraternity who tragically took his own life back in 2021.
As part of the fundraiser, sorority members and members of the women’s sports teams competed in various challenges, including an Instagram challenge, a dodgeball challenge, and made banners to raise money and awareness.
Separate from the fundraiser, the fraternity has raised around $6,500 in part from donations from local businesses and a GoFundMe, with all of the proceeds going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
As the president of a fraternity who knows the importance of mental health all too well, Jake Higgs says for guys in college, sometimes they feel the need to put on a façade, and the best thing you can do for someone just might be the simplest.
“For college-aged males especially, you kind of feel that you have to be macho, put on a front, and that’s not necessarily all that you have to do,” said Higgs. “I think it can make your brother’s day by asking them how their day was, how they’re feeling.”
