The brothers of a local fraternity and the men’s hockey team have raised over $30,000 for the local charity, For the Kids Oswego, and are looking to add another $15,000 this semester.
Four years ago, the brothers of Delta Kappa Kappa and the Lakers men’s hockey team joined forces to donate to the local child advocacy center for abused children.
“They do a lot of good work and try to engage the campus community to help with the efforts for the child advocacy center,” said multi-media coordinator of For the Kids, Mathew McCabe. “It really helps with underprivileged kids and I think the two groups can have a lot of influence on younger people and they’re also very active groups on campus.”
After realizing that Oswego is one of the highest volume areas of child abuse in New York State, the organizations teamed up to raise awareness and donate, which has been passed down throughout the years.
“They realized how bad it was in Oswego,” said Shawn Hulshof, member of the men’s ice hockey team “They wanted to start something at the school and wanted us to continue it, so we’re doing our best to.”
April will mark the 16-year anniversary of the For the Kids campaign. The mission statement is to raise awareness about child abuse and reduce the impact on Oswego County. The campaign began with intent to better the Oswego community.
Together, Delta Kappa Kappa and the Hockey team host four to five events during the spring semester, such as food drives for non-perishable items, community skating and bowling events and raffle style prizes, to raise awareness.
Their main planned-event for the spring will take place on April 29 at The Shed, to end the year with a $10,000 goal.
Working together has afforded a larger outreach on campus and in the community, getting support from local business, campus programs, Greek life and Oswego athletics, Delta Kappa Kappa fraternity coordinator, Kevin Villarreal said.
Working with a mix of Oswego State students, staff and community members, from throughout the Northeast and Canada, will total over 600 people partaking in the campaign.
Last Spring, $18,000 was raised, some of which came from a large donation, as well as fundraising. All money raised goes directly to the foundation.
The For the Kids foundation prides themselves on serving more families in 2016 that any other year. The foundation served 497 children and families in 2016, with 373 from sexual abuse cases alone.
“I think it’s so incredibly and generous that they are doing it,” sophomore Leah Wolf said. “It’s nice to see organizations that reach out to help the kids. Especially since people like hockey players and upstanding frat brothers can be role models for those kids.”
