Greek community to kick off Habitat project

MIMI ENSLEY

Issue date: 12/2/08 Section: News

Members of the Greek community at the University will kickoff a Habitat for Humanity building project with a groundbreaking ceremony today.

Though actual construction on the Habitat house will not begin until January, the groundbreaking signifies the culmination of 18 months of fundraising in preparation for the build. During the past year and a half, members of Greek Life were able to raise $63,000 - the total cost of the project. Individual chapters were responsible for a portion of the funds, and money earned during Greek Week last spring also contributed to the total sum.

Leaders from the University's Greek councils are excited to move past the preparation stages and begin work on the house, which volunteers will build at 105 Red Fern Circle in Bogart.

"This has been an incredible journey starting with the original dream and actually seeing it come to fruition," said Kathleen Robinson, president of the Panhellenic Council. "The real results will come in the next few months as we see the house take form and get to know the family whose lives we are going to impact."

Robinson, a senior from Macon, said she has found her "home away from home" in her Greek organization and sees the project as a way for her to give the same feeling of home to an Athens family.

"I am so grateful we will be able to provide a home for a family in Athens," she said. "This is a wonderful opportunity for all Greek students from the four councils to work together to give back to our community."

The Habitat house will be built through the combined efforts of members from each of the four governing bodies of Greek Life - the Interfraternity Council, the Multicultural Greek Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Panhellenic Council. The groups comprise more than 5,000 students who participate in the University's fraternities and sororities.

"One of the core values to every Greek organization is service, and we all strive to adhere to this by contributing to causes with our time and resources," Robinson said.

Robinson will speak at the groundbreaking, as well as Spencer Frye, executive director of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, and Brad Valentine, president of the Interfraternity Council. The Greek leaders will thrn break ground at 5 p.m. Project leaders hope to finish "the House the Greeks Built" by the end of spring semester.

Valentine, a senior from Gainesville, said the work that will take place after the groundbreaking will be the most important.

"I strongly believe that the Greek community will be impacted the most when the individual members unite and work together to achieve their common goal," Valentine said. "As the house is being built, our members will get to know the family and they will benefit more from the intangible aspect of impacting other lives."