Students from each fraternity and the Habitat for Humanity chapter joined forces to raise over $3,000 to support the construction of the 27th house sponsored by Elon’s campus Habitat chapter.
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<strong>Habitat students at the build site with their stud</strong>Each year, Elon’s campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity, housed in the Kernodle Center for ServiceLearning and Community Engagement, commits to building and fundraising for a house to help provide affordable housing for a family in Alamance County.
This year, the chapter completed its 27th house since this tradition began. Through the years, fundraising has taken a variety of forms, but this year was the first Stud-a-Thon: a partnership with the Interfraternity Council through Fraternity and Sorority Life where students from each fraternity and the Habitat chapter raised over $3,000 through a competition that involved decorating studs that would be used in the framing of the home, and served on site to help build that home.
Brothers helping complete the roof at the build siteThis new tradition was created during a meeting earlier this year with Cathy Lamb, associate executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County, Sarah Williams, staff advisor for Habitat’s campus chapter, and Audrey Harris, fundraising coordinator with the campus chapter’s student leadership team. Lamb heard the idea mentioned at a Habitat conference in Atlanta where the cost of the house was split by the number of studs in the internal and external walls of the Habitat house being built. The idea seemed a perfect fit for Elon student groups. Habitat’s chapter wanted to partner with fraternities with the intention of engaging more men in service.
Jordan King, Interim Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the Interfraternity Council, worked with the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement to launch this new initiative. “We here in the IFC community are ecstatic with the final results of our Stud-a-Thon. We were beyond pleased with our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, and with the end result being building a house for someone in Burlington,” said Alejandro Ramos, IFC Director of Programming.
<strong>Students tabling to accept votes for the best stud</strong>The fraternity that won the trophy for the most votes on their painted stud was Delta Upsilon. Sigma Chi was recognized as the “Rockstar Raiser” bringing in over $1,500. Most importantly, this partnership has supported the creation of a home for a Burlington native who is a single mother with two children. The future resident of this home said “Thank you. I love my family and I’m very thankful to have this opportunity to give them a better place to live. I’m so grateful for Elon coming out to help me build my house. It’s a real blessing.”
Elon’s campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity looks forward to continuing the collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, the Interfraternity Council, and Fraternity and Sorority Life to build more homes for those in our community due to a lack of affordable housing.
This year, the chapter completed its 27th house since this tradition began. Through the years, fundraising has taken a variety of forms, but this year was the first Stud-a-Thon: a partnership with the Interfraternity Council through Fraternity and Sorority Life where students from each fraternity and the Habitat chapter raised over $3,000 through a competition that involved decorating studs that would be used in the framing of the home, and served on site to help build that home.
