The strong values within Rose-Hulman’s Greek system that contribute to an engaged and involved college experience–a sense of community, strong support system, personal development, and giving back to the community–came together earlier this spring as Alpha Tau Omega Gamma Gamma chapter members organized and completed a grueling service project supporting neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) services at Riley Hospital for Children.
The Carmine’s Convoy event raised $42,000 from a 66-mile walk over the course of two days, starting at the ATO chapter house on the college’s campus in Terre Haute and ending in front of the hospital in downtown Indianapolis. This effort was a personal one in many ways for fraternity members and one of its alumni, Thomas Reives, whose Rook’s Resources Inc. charity recognizes Thomas and Shecara Reives’ late son Rook William. (Carmine Convoy is named for the couple’s other son, 7-year-old Carmine Acie, who required extensive NICU services after being born in the spring of 2017 with his twin brother, Rook.)
Rook’s Resources has been providing children’s books, Mother’s/Father’s Day gift baskets, holiday toys, and dinners at Ronald McDonald House Charities for several years to families with preterm babies in NICUs at Indianapolis children’s hospitals.
Now, with support from the ATO chapter and other community donors, Rook’s Resources will be sharing nourishment supplies (including sports drinks, lactation cookies, and meals) with families in Riley Hospital for Children’s NICU Quiet Lounges. And the Reives’ future goal is to make Welcome to the NICU (or Beinvenidos a la NICU) books available free to any family entering a NICU at all major children’s hospitals across the United States.
“I had no idea what relationship I would have with the chapter almost 20 years after graduating from Rose,” said Thomas Reives, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2008 and added a master’s degree in engineering management in 2010. “The fact that [ATO chapter members] were willing to partner with us for this cause is a testament to the relationships forged over two decades in ATO. I am forever thankful and grateful for what we have started and even more proud of the fraternity and the brotherhood within ATO. It is indeed something special, filled with love and respect for one another.”
