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GA Southern Sigma Nus helping pledge's MS hometown
09/28/05
Dozens of Frat Brothers Head to Gulf Coast
As government help becomes more and more political, private aid for hurricane victims continues to pour in from across the country, including the Coastal Empire. We talked with members of one group on their way to the Gulf Coast, offering more than just supplies.
These college students will roll up their sleeves and give new meaning to fraternity road trip. To see Greek letters on a college campus, most people think of wild parties and crazy initiations. Wilkes Evans hopes to change that. He and 50 of his Sigma Nu brothers will carry food, water and cleaning supplies to Waveland, Mississippi.
But more importantly, they're taking themselves. "What they need are people, cause the spirit of those people is broken," Evans said. "The task is so overwhelming that they need people more than anything. Manpower."
In addition to supplies and cash, they'll donate a few days labor to help as many people as they can.
The brothers of Sigma Nu didn't just pick Waveland, Mississippi, randomly off a map. It is actually the hometown of one of their own. Freshman pledge James Ledford was in Statesboro as the disaster unfolded.
"It hits closer to home when I see pictures and video of the town I know completely wiped out," he said.
We asked how he felt when this went from a concept of helping hurricane victims somewhere to helping his family, his neighborhood, his people. "I just couldn't believe everybody wanted to help out so much," he said. "I thought it would be three or four people in a truck, carrying a crate or two of supplies."
Evans says everyone should learn to look beyond themselves. "Instead of being the typical Animal House fraternity, maybe we can show we want to serve our community and country."
And Ledford will watch one family help the other family start over.
Waveland, Mississippi, is about 35 miles east of New Orleans and was in the center of Katrina's path. The group leaves Thursday night so they can arrive Friday around sunrise and get started immediately.
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