College sophomore Alvin Choi proudly donates a piece of clothing for AKPsi's clothing drive. As service committee chair, Choi hopes that
the fraternity's effort will make a change in the community. | Photo by Loli Lucaciu
By Alan Shen
Contributing Writer
The Sigma Pledge Class of the Co-ed Business Fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi (AKPsi) at Emory University is holding a clothing drive that aims to collect clothing donations from the Emory community in order to benefit homeless people in the local Atlanta area.
College sophomore and AKPsi Service Committee Chair Alvin Choi said that the purpose of this event, which has been going on since Nov. 2 and will last until Nov. 8, is to provide people who have limited resources in the community with basic warmth as winter approaches.
He chose to contact Atlanta Mission Facility because he had previously worked with them for an event called Soup Kitchen, and he trusted that the Facility would be a good partner for the clothing drive.
Since 12 a.m. on Nov. 2, members of the organization have been plac- ing boxes in dorms on main campus and the Clairmont campus. Students and faculty are encouraged to drop off any pieces of clothing that they want to donate. AKPsi will deliver all the clothing collected to the Atlanta Mission Facility at the end of the event.
Their goal is to collect at least 400 pieces of clothing. Participation from the students is critical since they make up a significant amount of Emory's population. To reach the goal, their first step was to raise publicity.
Choi, who designed a flyer for the drive, said flyers and an event on Facebook remained the major meth- ods of expanding the publicity of this event.
"Graphics can easily catch people's attention," Choi said.
Additionally, they also tried to place drop boxes at traffic-concentrated areas. Many boxes were placed at main entrances and in front of elevators of other main buildings, such as the Dobbs University Center (DUC).
One of the difficulties foreseen by Choi was that some people passing by the drop boxes might pick up some pieces of clothing. However, he also said that he had faith that the student body at Emory University would not do such acts.
After the clothing will be col- lected, AKPsi will sort the pieces into two categories: female and male. The female clothing will be delivered to My Sister's House, which is a facility that accommodates homeless women. The male clothes will be delivered to Shepherd's Inn–a facility that takes care of homeless males.
Choi cited that the core values of AKPsi – "professionalism, service, brotherhood, integrity and knowl- edge" – in order to explain how the clothing drive relates to the fraternity. It is one of the fraternity's goals to serve the community.
"However, this clothing drive is more about serving the community," he said. "Charity shouldn't be about any organization, but [about] people in need."
Choi said that the members of the organization shared the same concern for the people who lived in the com- munity and that holding this event was their mutual wish.
Additionally, Choi shared a per- sonal experience that inspired him to start the winter clothing drive. He once came by a homeless woman who was not covered with the proper amount of clothing on a cold winter day and decided to give her his hood- ie. Her appreciation touched him and made him realize how easily he could help out people in need. By hold- ing this event, Choi hopes that more people in the Emory community will share that warmth.
Although this is the first year AKPsi started running this event, Choi said that the organization will try to make it an annual experience while also continuing to serve the community in other ways.
– By Alan Shen, Contributing Writer
