Eastern Kentucky University's Greek organizations have always given back to their communities, but they really stepped up their giving during 2019 Greek Week, held April 1 to April 7.
The week began with a blood drive in Keen Johnson. The drive took in 68 donations, which will save 204 lives, according to the Kentucky Blood Center. More than 40 of those donors had never given blood before.
The week continued with Greek Night at EKU Baseball on April 3 and Greek Olympics the following evening. Athletes from the Madison County Special Olympics joined the teams. Greek Sing followed on Friday and Greek Day of Service on Saturday.
The finale of Greek Week, the Greek Awards, was held on Sunday at the EKU Center for the Arts. Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and Phi Alpha Theta took first place for the week, with Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Theta Chi fraternity and Sigma Pi placing second, and Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, Kappa Sigma fraternity and Tau Kappa Epsilon finishing third.
Together, EKU’s Greek organizations raised nearly $4,500 for their chosen philanthropies, Madison County Special Olympics and the NUBPL Foundation. The NUBPL Foundation is a Central Kentucky-based organization dedicated to raising awareness and funding research on the rare childhood disease NUPBL.
The EKU Greek community was joined by Dave Faughn and Glenda McCoy, founders of the NUBPL Foundation, and their daughter, Katherine, who suffers from the disease.
“We would like to thank the entire EKU community for welcoming this family on to our campus last week,” said Jill Pettrey, EKU’s program director for fraternities and sororities. “Thank you for helping them on their way to find a cure for their sweet daughter and the many others who face the same challenges.”