Channel 9 features 'Everyday Heroes'
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER | JKIESEWETTER@ENQUIRER.COM
Heroes come in all types, big and small.
That’s the message of “Pepsi Everyday Freedom Heroes,” a local TV special (9 p.m. Friday, Channel 9) profiling the “Everyday Freedom Heroes” honored in November by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
The six range from a Canadian boy campaigning to end child labor and a Rochester nun helping feed the poor to Arnice Smith, a College Hill children’s librarian who holds after-school study sessions for at-risk students.
“I don’t think of myself as a hero,” says Smith, a Cincinnati native and Cheviot mother of two. “Because for me, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. This is why I am here.”
Smith started shelving books in 1982 as a part-time job at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. She has been a College Hill branch librarian since 2001.
Two years ago, she was one of 27 U.S. public librarians to receive The New York Times’ Librarian Award for outstanding community service.
The one-hour special, by local producers Jim Friedman and Addie Rosenthal, shows Smith providing dictionaries, calculators, paper and other supplies for her after-school study skills sessions.
Also profiled are Craig Kielburger, who as a 12-year-old in Toronto started “Free the Children” to stop child labor; Sister Beth LeValley, who works with Rochester poor; Azim Khamisa, a San Diego man promoting peace and forgiveness after a gang member murdered his son; Karin Rivas, from the Clearwater-based Florida Center for Survivors of Torture; and Daniel Beaty of Dayton, who performs a one-man off-Broadway show about race relations.
They were selected by the Freedom Center and Friedman’s company, which created the TV program two years ago. This year’s recipients were a departure from last year, when most of the honorees had an international impact.
“Last year we were looking at the absolute best, those who had done the incredible. This year we were looking for a balance, so people could see themselves,” he says.
All of the show’s music was composed by Cincinnatians Wes Boatman and Tom Steele. Most of the dozen people making “soap box” comments about freedom in the show are from Cincinnati.
Showing posts with label Service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Service. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Greek Charity at Columbia
The keg is full of cocoa, the girls are wearing sneakers and people are carrying water bottles instead of Dixie cups. Columbia's version of a frat party? Sort of.
On March 31 campus fraternities and sororities will put their nightlife talents to work as they join other organizations and students to participate in Relay for Life, a 24-hour event in Low Plaza held every year to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
This is just one of the many charity events being sponsored by fraternities and sororities this semester both on campus and locally.
According to Margy McCullough CC '08, a sorority member and President of the Inter-Greek Council, seven Greek chapters have already signed up for Relay for Life and every organization is expected to participate.
Alpha Chi Omega, a campus sorority, has been ranked the fourth top contributor amongst all participating teams, having raised almost $600.00 so far with a total goal of $5000.00. Seven members are participating, but the team hopes to round up fifteen before the event.
Aside from participating in Relay for Life, the Columbia chapter of Alpha Chi Omega also works with Safe Horizons, a New York based shelter which serves as a resource for victims of domestic violence.
Another sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, opts to draw in money for charity by capitalizing on a more stereotypical image of Greek life-built men and bed sheets-in a yearly Mr. Fraternity pageant featuring fraternity brothers in togas and evening wear.
The pageant, which attracts mainly Greeks but is open for anyone to attend, raises around $1000.00 each year for a national charity called Court Appointed Special Advocates. Theta girls are divided into teams and each fraternity presents one brother to be their contestant in a four category pageant including Question/Answer, Swimsuit, Evening Wear and the Toga Competition. The amount of money the representative can raise is a key factor in his score in the competition.
Some chapters choose to share their kinship and kindness with the local community.
Delta Gamma, a campus sorority, hosts "Days of Beauty" consisting of visits to Amsterdam House, a local retirement home where the sisters chat with, play music for, and paint the nails of anyone who wants company. Group Alpha Epsilon Pi organized a Thanksgiving food drive, putting boxes in each of the fraternity and sorority houses to collect food and clothing.
Many fraternity philanthropy chairs, most of whom are first-years, seemed a little less organized on the alms as opposed to their Greek sisters.
Fraternity Psi Upsilon plans to participate in Relay for Life and might also host an open mic night this semester, proceeds from which would be donated to a yet-to-be-determined charity.
"We've been kind of less active in the past and I'm trying to change that right now," Bobby Brennan CC '10, Philanthropy Chair of Psi Upsilon said. "We are also planning to work with Habitat for Humanity for a day."
Psi Upsilon does not require members to participate in charity work, but the bylaws require one member to actively organize charity ventures, and involvement is highly encouraged.
Sigma Nu fraternity, dominated mostly by swimmers and more recently by a number of crew team athletes, hopes to put their upper body strength to work by participating in a clean-up of Morningside Park with Alpha Chi Omega. The fraternity has been considering making it a requirement for all brothers to participate in at least one or two activities a year, according to Nick Barron CC'10, Philanthropy Chair for Sigma Nu.
"We can see the results of our work when we participate locally. It's an intrinsic reward as well as a great bonding event," Barron said.
Although not every Greek chapter requires charity work, every fraternity and sorority has a national philanthropy they support with personal donations and fund raising events each year, according Alexandra Murata Barnard/SEAS '10, a campus sorority member and Special Events Chair Coordinator of Inter-Greek Council.
"Some of the groups get together for collaborative projects. They all have a good purpose behind them and everyone does their job being a sister or brother by providing support for each other and helping out the national community projects they have decided on," Murata said. "Most people go beyond the requirements. Everything we do is really special and a lot of fun."
Despite the current charity involvements amongst Greek chapters, the Inter-Greek Council hopes to make charity work a more organized part of the Greek community, according to McCullough.
"With the new IGC Executive board this year there has been a movement to change the way we work with the larger Greek community," McCullough said. "We are working on forming a strategic planning committee which will make a list of requirements for every organization within the Greek community, including the expectation that each organization does a community service project at least once a semester or once a year."
http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/02/News/Greeks.Go.Wild.For.Charity-2754448-page2.shtml
On March 31 campus fraternities and sororities will put their nightlife talents to work as they join other organizations and students to participate in Relay for Life, a 24-hour event in Low Plaza held every year to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
This is just one of the many charity events being sponsored by fraternities and sororities this semester both on campus and locally.
According to Margy McCullough CC '08, a sorority member and President of the Inter-Greek Council, seven Greek chapters have already signed up for Relay for Life and every organization is expected to participate.
Alpha Chi Omega, a campus sorority, has been ranked the fourth top contributor amongst all participating teams, having raised almost $600.00 so far with a total goal of $5000.00. Seven members are participating, but the team hopes to round up fifteen before the event.
Aside from participating in Relay for Life, the Columbia chapter of Alpha Chi Omega also works with Safe Horizons, a New York based shelter which serves as a resource for victims of domestic violence.
Another sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, opts to draw in money for charity by capitalizing on a more stereotypical image of Greek life-built men and bed sheets-in a yearly Mr. Fraternity pageant featuring fraternity brothers in togas and evening wear.
The pageant, which attracts mainly Greeks but is open for anyone to attend, raises around $1000.00 each year for a national charity called Court Appointed Special Advocates. Theta girls are divided into teams and each fraternity presents one brother to be their contestant in a four category pageant including Question/Answer, Swimsuit, Evening Wear and the Toga Competition. The amount of money the representative can raise is a key factor in his score in the competition.
Some chapters choose to share their kinship and kindness with the local community.
Delta Gamma, a campus sorority, hosts "Days of Beauty" consisting of visits to Amsterdam House, a local retirement home where the sisters chat with, play music for, and paint the nails of anyone who wants company. Group Alpha Epsilon Pi organized a Thanksgiving food drive, putting boxes in each of the fraternity and sorority houses to collect food and clothing.
Many fraternity philanthropy chairs, most of whom are first-years, seemed a little less organized on the alms as opposed to their Greek sisters.
Fraternity Psi Upsilon plans to participate in Relay for Life and might also host an open mic night this semester, proceeds from which would be donated to a yet-to-be-determined charity.
"We've been kind of less active in the past and I'm trying to change that right now," Bobby Brennan CC '10, Philanthropy Chair of Psi Upsilon said. "We are also planning to work with Habitat for Humanity for a day."
Psi Upsilon does not require members to participate in charity work, but the bylaws require one member to actively organize charity ventures, and involvement is highly encouraged.
Sigma Nu fraternity, dominated mostly by swimmers and more recently by a number of crew team athletes, hopes to put their upper body strength to work by participating in a clean-up of Morningside Park with Alpha Chi Omega. The fraternity has been considering making it a requirement for all brothers to participate in at least one or two activities a year, according to Nick Barron CC'10, Philanthropy Chair for Sigma Nu.
"We can see the results of our work when we participate locally. It's an intrinsic reward as well as a great bonding event," Barron said.
Although not every Greek chapter requires charity work, every fraternity and sorority has a national philanthropy they support with personal donations and fund raising events each year, according Alexandra Murata Barnard/SEAS '10, a campus sorority member and Special Events Chair Coordinator of Inter-Greek Council.
"Some of the groups get together for collaborative projects. They all have a good purpose behind them and everyone does their job being a sister or brother by providing support for each other and helping out the national community projects they have decided on," Murata said. "Most people go beyond the requirements. Everything we do is really special and a lot of fun."
Despite the current charity involvements amongst Greek chapters, the Inter-Greek Council hopes to make charity work a more organized part of the Greek community, according to McCullough.
"With the new IGC Executive board this year there has been a movement to change the way we work with the larger Greek community," McCullough said. "We are working on forming a strategic planning committee which will make a list of requirements for every organization within the Greek community, including the expectation that each organization does a community service project at least once a semester or once a year."
http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/02/News/Greeks.Go.Wild.For.Charity-2754448-page2.shtml
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