Fraternity volunteers at children’s center

Shouts, paint-covered stairs and hay filled Phi Delta Theta’s house Friday night.

No, it wasn’t a college party. Rather, the members of the fraternity and Alpha Xi Delta dedicated their Friday night to hosting a Halloween party for the kids of the King Kennedy Center, which was established in Ravenna to fill children’s free time with fun activities.

“Our organizations work really well together,” said Alpha Xi Delta President Brittni Cortright. “We’re really good at making plans happen, so we thought it would be really fun to combine efforts to help the community.”

The members planned a range of activities to make the party fun for children ages 3 to 15. There was cookie decorating in the kitchen and pumpkin painting on the stairway.

“We planned a variety of activities,” said Stephen Fisher, social chair for Phi Delta Theta. “The kids really got involved and jumped right into the activities.”

Some of the kids even gave advice to Greek members attempting to bob for apples.

“You’ve got to get your head in there,” shouted one enthusiastic party attendee as a Phi Delta Theta member competed against an 8-year-old. “Go for the stem!”

While all of these events kept the kids active and excited, the main event came at the end of the night with a unique activity.

“We decided to have a hay room filled with candy,” Fisher said. “The kids can run around and dig through it to find candy.”

Members gathered the children at the closed doors of the chapter room, which was filled with at least 6 inches of hay and several bags of candy.

When the doors opened, the kids stormed the room and began tearing through the loose hay. Soon, hay dust and the candy-hunters’ shouts filled the air.

“It was fun kicking through the hay to find candy,” a costume-clad child said as she held up her bag filled with goodies. “I found a lot.”

When the dust settled and the kids began to leave, members of both chapters were exhausted but happy with the results.

“I’d say it was successful,” Cortright said. “It was full of energy, and we all had a lot of fun.”

As for cleaning up the hay in the carpeted chapter room, Fisher said, “It may take a while.”

Contact Greek life and ROTC reporter Kate Sheafer at [email protected]