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Dozens of disabled children and their families gathered for a Sunday afternoon carnival on Library Mall in an event sponsored by two University of Wisconsin Greek organizations.
The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority partnered with the Family Support & Resource Center, a Madison-based nonprofit that aims to help disabled children stay at home with their parents, said AEPi Philanthropy Chair Brian Oliver.
The children participated in several games for prizes, including a ring, football, bowling, bottle and beanbag toss and a soccer event. Free pizza was also available.
Event Chair Jordan Shockett said he hopes events like this make people realize that not all of the labels put on Greeks are true.
“Right now, the Greek community isn’t the best part of campus, according to stereotypes,” Shockett said. “And we wanted to show that’s not true, and we put a lot of effort into doing stuff not only for ourselves but also the community around us.”
Shockett said AEPi does not have a history of holding philanthropic events, and he hopes members enjoy being pushed out of their “comfort zones” and hold similar events in the future.
“This is an experience for the people that are taking part in it and something that we can look back upon,” Shockett said. “And hopefully we’ll get people to not only like doing it but also wanting to do something along these lines in the future.”
There was an abundance of pizza, prizes and candy, which Shockett said was to make sure the children had “enough of what they want.”
AEPhi President Becca Wiseman said her sorority got involved with the event to give back to the Madison community.
“We just thought it was a great opportunity to get involved with AEPi and do something great for the community,” Wiseman said. “It’s a lot of fun, and everyone was really excited for it.”
Involvement from the Greek groups was apparent. Members sported blue T-shirts commemorating the day, and at least two students were with a participant at all times.