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NY Area Tekes Brighten Hospital Rooms, Lives of Chidren With Project T.K.E.
TKE Theta-Sigma Chapter at St. Johns University Brings Entire New
York Community Together by Decorating Children's Hospital Rooms Through Project T.K.E. (Jamaica, NY) – Transforming an often stale and drab hospital room into a more pleasant environment for the youngest of patients is the driving purpose behind why Tau Kappa Epsilon men are brightening the lives of hospitalized children in the New York area. "These children are confined to small rooms and constant testing and treating, so the least we could really do is bring some of that excitement and energy into them," said Joshua Fifer, Theta-Sigma philanthropy chair and founder of Project T.K.E. "Just the chance to get up and walk around everyday and enjoy the basics of our lives is something that these kids do not have." With the assistance of several area TKE chapters and various organizations at St. Johns University, members of the Theta-Sigma TKE chapter will coordinate Project T.K.E (Transforming Kids' Environments). Although the initial scope of the project was to decorate the hospital rooms of 40 children at St. Mary's Children's Hospital in Bayside, Queens, an overwhelming response from 21 TKE chapters and the St. Johns University community has allowed the Theta-Sigma TKE chapter to expand their plans and include two more hospitals in Manhattan and Staten Island, respectively. "I always wanted to organize an event to help children in the hospital because I feel they are missing out on so many opportunities that we take advantage of," said Fifer. Project T.K.E. has truly become a New York community event, involving volunteers from three of St. Johns University campuses (Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island), representing over 70 different student organizations. The organizations include fraternities and sororities, academic and honor societies, religious, cultural, political, special interest and media organizations, and St. John's University athletic teams as well. Each organization will be given a special theme around which they create artwork to decorate a child's hospital room. Many of the children in the hospitals are confined to their beds, ranging in age from one- to 16- years old. The Project T.K.E. program seeks to provide organizations an opportunity to commit to creating decorations for the patient rooms and common spaces of children's hospital wards. Each organization is given a theme, chosen by one of the students, by which they design the decorations. Members of Theta-Sigma are encouraging those who participate in Project T.K.E. to continue volunteering at the hospitals by building an on-going relationship with their child. "As much criticism and stereotypes fraternities are tagged with, people should take the time to learn what these organizations are involved with," said Fifer. "This project is a perfect example of how fraternities often offer its members the opportunity to help improve not only the community they live in, but also develop essential lifelong skills such as leadership and teamwork." An organization does not need to be in the immediate New York area to become part of this monumental event. For more information or to sign up to make decorations for the hospitalized children and join Project T.K.E., contact Joshua Fifer at joshfifer@yahoo.com |
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