Alpha Phi at UCLA Donates Supplies to U.S. Marines in Iraq

[TxAPhi]

LOS ANGELES (ALPHA PHI) Feb. 4, 2005 – Members of Beta Delta chapter of Alpha Phi International Fraternity at UCLA donated supplies to send overseas to U.S. Marines stationed in Iraq though the Adopt-A-Marine program.

Organized by former chapter President Lindsay McHolm, Beta Delta members contributed money, snacks, personal hygiene items, car magazines and thermal underwear to Snell and Wilmer L.L.P. Law Offices, a west coast-based law firm that volunteered to package the goods, and sent them to the Marines in late November 2004.

The care packages were received by a Marine battalion on the Iraqi-Jordinian border whose job it is to guard and operate the border crossing between convoys. With the money raised and goods donated, care packages were donated to 170 Marines through the Adopt-A-Marine program.

Also included in the care packages were Beta Delta chapter pictures signed by members, thanking the Marines for their service.

"Obviously [the Marines] loved the care packages, but I think the pictures made them excited that somebody was thinking about them," said McHolm, who graduated from UCLA in June 2004.

Captain Jim Glover of the Fourth Low-Altitude Defense Battalion thanked Beta Delta for the care packages his men received in an e-mail sent Dec. 19, 2004 to Alpha Phi International Fraternity Executive Director Susan Zabriskie. "My Marines really appreciate the thoughts and effort that went into collecting and shipping the snacks and hygiene items to them," Glover wrote. He explained that because of his battalion’s remote location, they are not well protected from the elements and have limited access to supplies like the ones Beta Delta sent.

Current chapter President Allison Riechert said members were very proud to have helped out, though she thinks the biggest congratulations belongs to McHolm.