Southeast service fraternity writes letters to soldiers

Service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega at Southeast Missouri State University hosted an event where students could write letters to soldiers serving in the military abroad on February 4th.

Alpha Phi Omega will send the letters through Operation Gratitude, an organization dedicated to saying “thank you” to the men and women who serve in the military. Every year, 200,000 or more care packages are sent to U.S. service members from Operation Gratitude consisting of food, entertainment, hygiene and handmade products.. Not only did the Alpha Phi Omega members and Southeast students get the chance to say “thank you” to U.S. soldiers, they had an option to leave their contact information, giving the soldiers an opportunity to write back to them if they wish. The fraternity received 50 handwritten letters from Southeast students.

Alpha Phi Omega hosted the event as part of their recruitment process. Alaina Mikkelsen, sophomore and pledge trainer of Alpha Phi Omega, is in charge of the recruitment process and educating new members about the fraternity. As a pledge trainer, she sets up meetings to prepare for recruitment, informational tables and events such as the letter writing event.

“It is a great way to show what our fraternity is about. We are a co-ed fraternity, so our main focus is on this service,” Mikkelson said. “I think if people walk by and see us doing service, it is a really great way to communicate our core value.”

Currently, Alpha Phi Omega is one of the smallest Greek organizations on campus containing only 40 members, and they are looking to expand their fraternity. Previous recruitment events included hosting a social event to paint an addition to the graffiti board between Scully and Brandt buildings, posting flyers to their organization around campus to promote the fraternity and posting in the “Living At Southeast” Facebook page to connect with their fellow Southeast students. Co-pledge trainer Alexander McArthur, sophomore, is in his first active semester with the organization. He became interested after seeing his friends enjoy the organization, and it inspired him to get involved.

“The friendships I made were a huge aspect of it. By going out and doing the service with other brothers, you develop really close ties with them. And it feels good to be doing stuff for your community also,” McArthur said.

Alpha Phi Omega is recruiting anyone who wants to participate in service events and help out their community. The fraternity is always striving for more service, camaraderie and leadership skills. For potential new members who could not make it to the recruitment activities, they can still attend their mandatory new member pinning ceremony at 9 p.m.Feb. 7 in Dempster room 128. For more information about the fraternity, students can email them at apobetapsi.pledgetrainers@gamil.com.