Alpha Beta Does Work
Over spring break a few brothers from the Alpha Beta Colony were selected to participate in a program called Alternative Spring Break Detroit (ASBD) working to reshape and revitalize the city of Detroit. Our Brothers along with various students of Wayne State University took a week long quest in dealing with the issues of hunger and homelessness, as well as crime and blight. These are all problems that major cities around the country experience. However, this program in particular allowed students to venture within their own “backyard” of Detroit instead of going out to a different community. Kevin “Judicial” Tatulyan, Edwin “Thriller” David, and Bhavdeep “Intrepidus” Singh were the three participating brothers. These three brothers were able to not only participate but further aid this program in its efforts because we as a colony had previously participated in many service projects within our city working with organizations such as Motor City Blight Busters, Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Gleaners Food Bank, and Habitat for Humanity.
Looking first at the aspect of Crime and Blight, ASBD worked in conjunction with an organization called Motor City Blight Busters. This organization works to search the city of Detroit for blighted areas and helps to improve them. Various activities included painting homes, boarding up and securing abandoned buildings, renovating houses, as well as building new houses. Our brothers’ previous experience with this organization helped them be leaders by instilling a sense of passion in others to make a difference within our community. The location that was worked on during the week was called Spaulding Court which was once a densely populated area infested with crime and drug lords. At this spot, work was done to improve the walling of the homes for protection against the weather. Flower beds were implanted in the area to bring back a positive vibe to the area.
The other major problem that was improved upon was Hunger and Homelessness. Going to places such as Gleaners Food Bank and Capuchin Soup Kitchen our brothers were once again able to instill a sense of order and leadership. At these two locations respectively, food is packaged and sent out to different community and food is served to the homeless. Both of these places have a certain order to things that must be done. Our brothers took the initiative to be leaders of their individual groups at these locations to ensure that everything was run smoothly. Taking their past experiences at the food bank, they helped package their group’s orders without any flaws. Having volunteered here together as a colony as well, we have in the past experienced errors within or packaging and serving of food. However because of their experience working at these places with the fraternity when doing community service hours they brought a sense of leadership to the situation allowing work be streamlined and preformed with minimal error.
Looking forward into the coming years, we as a colony hope to be able to send more of our brothers to this ASBD program and increase awareness of the problems that are affecting our great City of Detroit. Our brothers who attended were outspoken advocates of change to other participants during the entire ASBD volunteering experience, and hope to take full advantage of being part of other events such as these in the future. Alternative Spring Break Detroit is a program run by the Dean of Students Office at Wayne State University and having three of our brothers selected for this is quite a prestigious honor.
--
Edwin David and Bhavdeep Singh
Alpha Beta Colony
