NEWS

Fraternities, sororities seek toys and goodies for needy children

CHAPEL HILL -- A fuzzy little stuffed bear, a tiny doll, colored pencils -- these are among the treasures that could make millions of disadvantaged children smile this holiday season.

Each year Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organization based in Boone, collects shoeboxes filled with such goodies from all over the United States and distributes them to needy children in Third World countries.

This year, local residents who wish to contribute boxes to the project, called Operation Christmas Child, will have a convenient drop-off site operated by fraternity and sorority members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

On Friday (Nov. 22), chapter members will load a huge truck with contributed boxes from 1-3:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Morehead Building on East Franklin Street. UNC students, faculty, staff and community residents are invited to bring boxes.

Boxes may contain small toys, school supplies, hygiene items such as toothbrushes, sunglasses, candy and gum, said Jay Anhorn, UNC's director of Greek Affairs. Items not allowed include anything used, perishable, breakable, liquid, medicinal or war-related.

Boxes may be wrapped, but that is not required; lids must be removable. Each box must be labeled as intended for a boy or a girl and for one of the following age groups: 2 to 4; 5 to 9; or 10 to 14. And each must contain $5 for shipping, enclosed in an envelope. Samaritan's Purse distributes religious literature with the boxes.

"We are so proud of these students and their dedication to help the needy," said Jan Evans Drake of Raleigh, an alumna of UNC and its chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. "We hope to collect more than 800 boxes."

Drake has worked for 10 years with Operation Christmas Child at the national level. Last year she and her fellow UNC/ADPi alumna Ann Maxwell of Goldsboro, a member of the UNC Board of Visitors, asked their sorority house in Chapel Hill to participate. The students donated 95 shoeboxes filled with toys and gifts.

This year the two women invited all 50 UNC sororities and fraternities to participate. Seventeen chose to do so. "We are proud of our fraternities and sororities and their dedication to service and volunteerism in the local community," Anhorn said. Each year the chapters carry out hundreds of projects and perform more than 50,000 hours of community service, he said. Currently the chapters are raising $25,000 to build a house for Orange County Habitat for Humanity next spring.

Evangelist Franklin Graham heads Samaritan's Purse, which provides aid to people around the world and promotes Christianity. For more information, visit the organization's Web site, www.samaritanspurse.org. A link to the Operation Christmas Child project leads to information about other Triangle sites where shoeboxes may be contributed. For more information on the project, call 1-800-353-5949. For information on UNC fraternity and sorority service projects, visit http://greeks.unc.edu or call 962-8298.

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Contact: Jay Anhorn, (919) 962-8298 or anhorn@email.unc.edu