Toy donations triple what Pi Kappa Alpha expected for Primary Children’s
Over the past three weeks, Utah State University’s Pi Kappa Alpha (Pikes) brothers have been running a toy and clothing donation drive for the Primary Children’s hospital.
The fraternity has collected triple the expected amount of toy donations for the “Pikes and Tykes Toy Drive,” according to sophomore Public Relations Chairman Jonathan Whipple. The drive has also had more than double the expected amount of monetary donations.
“Originally, our goal was $1,500 in money donations and maybe $2,000 in toys, so the fact that we’ve surpassed that our first week was incredible,” Whipple said. “It’s been incredible to see the amount of backing that we’ve gotten from the community, especially from the school. We’ve had an overflow of support from the community on this event.”
Currently, the Pikes have collected roughly $7,000 in toy and clothing donations and about $2,700 in cash donations. Whipple said they are thinking about renting moving trucks to transport all the donations to the hospital.
Each semester Pi Kappa Alpha organizes a community donation drive. For the past few semesters, they have held a food drive for the Cache Community Food Bank, collecting 3.2 tons of food last semester and 2.7 tons the semester prior to that. This year, they decided to switch things up.
“We were brainstorming ideas for something we could do that was big,” Whipple said. “Something that no fraternity has ever done, something we could just put our name on, claim it as our own, and go out there and do the best we can.”
The fraternity has centered the toy drive around three weeks of events on Utah State University campus, aimed at encouraging donations.
“It’s been going good. We have a lot of toys,” said member Russ Christensen, a junior. “There’s a lot of people willing to contribute.”
The fraternity also set up donation tables outside the south and north Walmart entrances on Saturdays March 19, 26 and April 2. Other strategies include hosting fundraising nights at Buffalo Wild Wings and keeping a donation jar at Angie’s, Whipple said.
“My favorite thing about the toy drive has been interacting with our community on a positive level,” said member Connor Gery, a junior majoring in business finance. “It is great to be out there representing Pi Kappa Alpha collecting toys and money for a great cause.”
All the toy donations will be dropped off directly at Primary Children’s hospital on April 7 by the 38 members of Pi Kappa Alpha. The money donated to the drive is used to buy supplies to make blankets. On April 1, the fraternity held a blanket tying event in the Taggart Student Center where students could stop by and help out.
“The best part for me has been volunteering at the Walmarts on the weekends to collect toy donations out front and hearing stories from local people that have had children stay at Primary Children’s Hospital,” said Ian Frankland, a junior studying civil engineering. “The teamwork from our brotherhood support from other Greek chapter has been great.”
It took about two months for all the planning to fall into place, and the fraternity also made t-shirts and bracelets to promote the drive.
“The toy drive is important because it’s our opportunity to give back,” said Alex Souvall, a senior double-majoring in physics and mechanical engineering. “I love that because it’s a good opportunity to live the values that we try to teach our members. It feels good to work for no other reason than to help people who need it.”
Souvall said he was impressed with the generosity of the community, mentioning one person who dropped off around three hundred dollars worth of toys.
“It makes you want to pass it on and be a better person. It’s as beneficial for us to be better and focus on the things that really matter as it is for the people we help,” Souvall said.
“Every donation, whether big or small, is doing a lot for those kids down there. It’s changing lives. We’re going down there and basically giving these sick kids toys to play with. We’re the one doing the event, but it’s basically the community that’s really giving back the most,” Whipple said. “You are making some child’s life so better by your donation, whether big or small, or any support at all is helping them substantially.”
— a.r.stilson@gmail.com