Georgette French | Twitter: @GeorgetteFrenc | Outreach Editor for EagleNews | Contact: 941-661-1687
The Iota Upsilon Chapter (Florida Gulf Coast), whose mission is to create lifelong brotherhood while encouraging community service, strives to keep up with its own philanthropy The Ability Experience, but this past week, they also lent a huge helping hand to the community.
“A lot of what makes the front page isn’t always the most positive story, but we [as a campus] definitely need to encourage discussing and sharing the positive things that we’re all doing,” Joseph Rotella said. “And as a fraternity, we have been trying to enhance the image of the university and its communities in the same regard.”
The brothers worked to do this through several philanthropic events they participated in, including Surfers for Autism which took place on Nov. 5. Instead of spending the day enjoying sun and surf for themselves, the brothers taught autistic children how to surf at Fort Myers Beach.
Surfers for Autism is a worldwide program that starts in Australia and tours all over the world and, according to Robert Peia, it has seen more than 200 participants per location with its last stop for this tour being Fort Myers Beach.
According to Hunter Parson, that’s where more than 100 volunteers, including members of Pi Kappa Phi, registered to help the children. For thirty minutes a session, each child was able to learn to stand on a surfboard, paddle and have fun in the water.