University fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi was breaking stereotypes on Wednesday with a philanthropy and service event that helped bring together the student body to empower women. The event was called “Build- A- Bear” and it let student create stuffed animals for women who have lost children in either a still birth, or miscarriage.
The fraternity teamed up with the Non-profit organization Sufficient Grace Ministries in order to get the event in full swing. Philanthropy director of Alpha Sigma Phi, Caleb Brown, says that the goal was to bring comfort to these mothers who have experienced tremendous loss.
“It’s our philanthropy for our fraternity… and for Sufficient Grace Ministries, there mission is to raise money, hope, awareness, and provide encouragement through making these comfort bears for women who lost their children during child birth through either miscarriage or still birth” said Brown.
With an event so empowering for many women, it was clear that this fraternity was breaking stereotypes. Creative Director of Alpha Sigma Phi, Ian Melchior, says that it’s important for awareness of these lost lives to bring to campus by fraternity culture.
“It’s a quiet subject that affects a lot of families… Just seeing the event on campus sparks these conversations that we think need to be had because these lives that are lost they still matter just as much as anyone else. The message just speaks to a lot of people, and Alpha sigma Phi… Especially with the fraternity culture being how it is right now in the mass media that we want to show that we care about the unspoken things and our progress isn’t going to slowed” said Melchior.
Progress for these lives to be recognized has not been slowed at all, with a large turn out and support for the event showed by the student body. President and Founder of the non-profit organization Sufficient Grace Ministries, Kelly Gerken, says that it’s important to recognize the hard work that is put in by the brothers of Alpha Sigma Phi.
“These men are like my heroes because people don’t talk about baby loss… even women struggle with talking about it. It’s such a touchy subject. So, every year when we show these pictures on social media of these young men talking to people about baby loss and being that courageous to talk about something that no one wants to talk about… The parents who feel so ignored and tossed aside and alone in their grief, it means so much to them, it means so much to us… it’s an incredible testimony of what kind of men these fraternity brothers are and the character they have” said Gerken.
