Northwestern GreekBuild

As a comprehensive Northwestern community, with all our busy lives and individual involvements in academics and extracurriculars, it is easy to be frustrated and lose sight of the positivity that can come out of our campus and its people.

GreekBuild’s Service Spotlight aims to shine a light on members of the Greek community who have done tremendous works of service or philanthropy and truly have made a difference on the campus and beyond.

With that said, our inaugural Service Spotlight is on Alex Samland. Alex is a freshman studying Mechanical Engineering, a brother of Delta Tau Delta, and works with two programs that focus on youth mentoring: Project SOAR, which aims to build one-on-one relationships between a mentor and mentee, and America Reads, which empowers underprivileged youth through education spanning a wide range of subjects from mathematics to English. Rodney Dawan Orr II, president of the Interfraternity Council and fellow brother of Delta Tau Delta, applauded Alex for his dedication to service, mentioning that “I’ve never met anyone more engaged in the community than Alex.”

Alex: “I think the most memorable and enlightening part of the experience for me was understanding the different perspectives and backgrounds that these youth come from. My mentee from Project SOAR, Carlos, comes from a divorced family and lives in a house filled with step-brothers and step-sisters he doesn’t really feel close to. Developing that relationship with him was a way for Carlos to have someone he could really trust and hopefully look up to for guidance.”

The work, at times, especially for America Reads, was tough. There were times during mentoring when teaching became a behavioral management class as students felt forced to go to tutoring by either their grandparents or parents. But Alex persisted, and overall feels like despite these situations, the work he has done has been fulfilling and most importantly, beneficial for the students.

To students interested in or inspired to do community service work, one of Alex’s biggest advice is to “not half commit to anything”. Specifically for his work in tutoring, “It is actually much more detrimental to anyone you are volunteering for to drop out halfway through the year or not give as much as energy as you can as the students will have yet another adult in their life who are not committed to their success. When you’re in it, you’re in it for the long run. And you should be passionate about what you do.”

We applaud Alex's efforts, and encourage everyone to strive for the level of dedication that Alex has continually displayed. If you are part of the Greek community and are inspired to give back to the community while meeting people passionate about service in different chapters, you should join GreekBuild! Contact Nate Gunawan or Sean Finn-Samuels if you are interested.

We received a few messages about this, so just to clarify: the fanny-packs you ordered should have been delivered to your *chapter houses*. Have a great Dillo, fam

We took our inaugural service trip with our new members last week to Feed My Starving Children where we helped feed 75 children for a year!

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT
Seniors Kristina Zhang and Maria Clark
Chapter: Chi Omega, Northwestern Xi Chapter
Service: Habitat for Humanity

“[Maria] told me about the winter break trip and I had nothing to do the first week of winter break. I went to New Orleans on the break trip and had a lot of fun. It’s a really great cause. You’re not only giving them a house, you’re teaching them financial literacy and helping them out in other ways as well.” - Kristina Zhang, Senior Chi Omega

“This family that we were helping had lived in a trailer and their trailer caught on fire. They couldn’t buy a new trailer due to zoning and they would have been kicked off their land. The habitat affiliate there worked with them to rebuild their trailer. They tore out everything and rebuilt it from the inside. The family was living in the backyard in a tent and they would always be there, bringing us food and helping on the build. The high amount of interaction and hearing their stories made this my favorite Habitat experience.” - Maria Clark, Senior Chi Omega

To get involved with Habitat for Humanity, you can sign up for a break trip or go on one of their Saturday builds. Learn more in the Habitat Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NUHFHBC/.

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT
Sophomore Eli Sachs
Chapter: Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Service: Best Buddies

Best Buddies is a passion project for Sigma Alpha Epsilon to build positive and lasting connections with Park School students during their recreational time. The partnership began two years ago and since then, current Philanthropy Chair Eli Sachs has helped regularize and increase the opportunities for chapter members to work closely with these young students.

“Every other week, about 7 to 12 of us go to a school in Evanston called Park School. We spend about an hour-hour and half of rec time with these students, which is generally a nice time for them to take off mentally, cognitively and just take a break. We do anything they enjoy – dancing, singing, playing board games. Occasionally, we do physical activities when it’s finally nice out.”

Be The Match 5K benefitting the National Marrow Donor Program!

The new committee members and exec of Northwestern GreekBuild had an awesome time at Feed My Starving Children during our most recent trip.