Be a leader, be a friend, be of service.
Alpha Phi Omega’s motto serves as a mission statement for the vast amount of community service the fraternity enthusiastically participates in on a regular basis.
There are about two to three volunteering projects a day available to members and 12 projects on a weekly basis. As a service organization, APO completed 6,000 hours of volunteer service last semester. However, for many members, the organization is about more than sheer numbers.
“If you do more than the requirements and if you’re volunteering out of the goodness of your heart because you enjoy it, you’ll really learn to love volunteering,” said Christy Pomatto, the service chair of APO. Pomatto, a junior in FAA, has so far completed 83 hours of service.
The fraternity ensures its members are dedicated by putting interested members through a semester-long pledging process.
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Though non-exclusive, the pledging process consists of weekly informational meetings about the organization.
As part of APO’s program, the group rules by the “Four C’s”: community, chapter, campus and country. Although they participate in projects sponsored by national organizations, APO focuses primarily on community and campus projects.
“I like local projects because you get to see the results,” said Baylee Gambetti, fundraising chair of APO and a sophomore in Media. “You get to know you’re really helping out where you live.”
As much as APO gives back to the local and national community, the service projects also give back to the APO members. Chandni Patel, rush chair and former president of APO, said that the friends and contacts she made through the organization are ones she will have for the rest of her life.
“People wanted me to run for president, but I thought it was the craziest idea, standing in front of 200 people and have to speak in front of them weekly; it terrified me,” said Patel, a senior in LAS. “It’s very interesting on looking back on who I was and how much I’ve grown so far. I owe so much of learning about how to deal with different types of people and how to communicate through APO.”
APO’s Web site is designed to track all members’ hours and list all service projects available in the near future. The Web site also shows who is signed up for which activities, and all volunteer projects have drivers scheduled to take students that do not have their own car. All that’s left for the members is the dedication to participate in the volunteer activities.
“It makes me appreciate my life and helping them makes me happier because I feel like I’m doing good,” Patel said. “In college, everything’s about you, your life, what you’re doing. So you get to go and be with other people, be involved in their lives and help some of them out.”
Although there are numerous service fraternities on campus, APO members emphasize the strength of brotherhood in their organization, which is encouraged during the pledging process, fellowship events and other social activities.
“It’s hard not to talk about APO, it’s such an integral part of our lives now,” Pomatto said.