The Inter Fraternal Council (IFC) is launching a fundraising campaign to build and improve the council’s relations with the Boone community as well as our Appalachian community.
Sophomore Entrepreneurship major Garrison Wagoner was recently elected as IFC’s VP of Community Relations. Brainstorming possible initiatives to bridge the gap between Appalachian’s general student body and Greek life has been on Wagoner’s mind ever since he won the election to this inaugural position the IFC adopted in March of this year.
Wagoner’s vision was formed the day he met Lt. Chris Hatton of the Boone Police Department at the Coffee with a Cop event in App State’s student union. Coincidentally, Wagoner was elected to this position on the very same day. Hatton shared with Wagoner that he is on the board of directors for The Hunger and Health Coalition. “This connection put me in the right place at the right time to begin building an impactful partnership,” said Wagoner.
A productive month of planning with Hunger and Health Coalition’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Young, and Wagoner, on IFC’s behalf, has led up to a positive partnership. In these meetings the idea of creating a promotional video for Hunger and Health Coalition came to life. It’s purpose: to explain who they are, what they do, and how all students of Appalachian can become involved.
Wagoner has taken on this project in full swing by interviewing Young and numerous employees at Hunger and Health as well as capturing videos of people volunteering and receiving services that the organization provides. At the end of the video, there is information on how to donate from there and how college students can make meaningful contributions to the organization. Once the video is released, all Appalachian students are encouraged to like and share it on all social media accounts to help raise awareness for the Hunger and Health Coalition and increase donations to the cause.
The first annual “Take A Night Off” campaign will begin with the video’s official release on Wednesday, April 8th. The title of the campaign is directed towards college students in our area who are familiar with using “beepers” as a transportation system. The goal of the campaign is to encourage all students of Appalachian to actually take one night off and donate the $2 that they would normally spend on a beeper to the HHC and its mission of relieving poverty and hunger one person at a time.
As IFC challenges Appalachian to get involved, members of Greek life will be participating in an additional challenge. PHC (PanHellenic Council), NPHC (National PanHellenic Council), and IFC organizations are being challenged to start individual go fund me pages for their respective members and alumni to donate to. The top fundraising organization for each of the three Greek councils will receive recognition in the upcoming award ceremony for Greek week as well as a donation to their national philanthropy.
When asked why students of Appalachian should get involved, Wagoner responded: “This project has the potential to make a meaningful impact. Greeks at ASU number over 1,800 students that could potentially generate over $3,000. If even half of the student body joined to contribute to this cause, together we could raise in excess of $20,000.”
One underlying objective of this campaign is to improve the relationship between Greeks and the general student body. “This is the beginning of stronger relations between Greek life and the general campus,” said Wagoner. “ We want to show this campus that when we stand united we can make a lasting impact.”
You can help the cause by donating to the campus go fund me page, liking and sharing the HHC video, and changing your cover photos to the “Take a Night Off” campaign photo.
When the campaign ends April 19, Wagoner will begin to plan more awareness videos and events for other organizations around the Boone community to further good relations between the communities of Boone and Appalachian State.