While many students and community members alike watched the Super Bowl this weekend 12 University students spent their weekend in Florida volunteering at a camp for children with chronic illnesses.
These members of the Greek Community took a trip to Boggy Creek Camp in Eustis, Fla., one hour north of Orlando.
Tim Duffin, of the Interfraternity Council, coordinated the trip this year with the help of Elizabeth Mulhall of Panhellenic Council. Both are community service chairs of their organizations.
This was Duffin’s third trip to Boggy Creek.
“I love the camp so much, I just want to spread this opportunity and get as many people down there to experience it as possible,” Duffin said.
The camp is offered to children with chronic illnesses and their families free of charge. Each weekend children with a specific illness are invited.
This weekend was a camp for children with cancer. The 12 students are from six sororities and six fraternities on campus.
“It was amazing, the children were having so much fun it was hard to tell that they were even sick,” Mulhall said. “It was sad to think that some of them may not have a year to live.”
The camp is good for the children because it helps them escape from their normal lives and gives an opportunity for each child to get one-on-one attention, Mulhall said.
“This has been a chance for me to be amazed by the life and spirit that children have in their hearts,” Panhellenic Council President Tracy LaHote said. “Being around the kids at Boggy Creek really helped me re-focus on what I care about in life and why.”
LaHote said her job description was “family-pal”. The job included being matched with a 10-year-old boy and his family and participating in activities with them.
“I made sure that the family enjoyed themselves and helped keep their minds off of the fact that one of them was very ill,” LaHote said.
For Duffin the thrill for him was not only seeing the children having fun, but also watching his fellow peers enjoy their experience.
“One of the greatest experiences was seeing the people’s reactions that hadn’t been to Boggy Creek before and getting to be a part of their experience,” Duffin said.
Three years ago Kappa Alpha Order was the first group from Bowling Green to go to Boggy Creek Camp. They have since gone every year. Duffin took his first trip with Kappa Alpha three years ago. Being involved in the Air Force, Duffin organized a trip last year with them.
Lahote was excited that the Panhellenic and Interfraternal communities could join together and take this trip. “This joint service experience was a baby step in the right direction because one of the basic values of all fraternities and sororities is service,” Lahote said.
Boggy Creek was created by the Boggy Creek Gang and was founded by Paul Newman, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Ted Forstmann, Jim ‘ Jan Moran, Gracia Anderson, David Horvitz, and Lawrence ‘ Florence DeGeorge. The Boggy Creek Gang is an expansion of the original Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, located in Ashford, Connecticut.