Coe Greek life organizes storm relief donation drive
After witnessing the devastation of the August 10 derecho, Cedar Rapids native Maddye Cavanagh ’21 wanted to help her hometown and college town recover. As the Coe College Panhellenic Council Vice President of Philanthropy, Cavanagh organized a storm relief donation drive for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids and East Central Iowa.
“I’ve grown up here my whole life so it was really hard to see all this stuff,” Cavanagh said. “I am in a Facebook group that was helping with storm relief, and I asked what organizations needed help. Someone from Big Brothers Big Sisters reached out to me.”
With the support of the Panhellenic Council and Coe’s four National Panhellenic Council (NPC) sororities, Cavanagh created an all-campus donation drive. Students collected nonperishable food items, hygiene products, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and gas gift cards. Big Brothers Big Sisters will be passing out these donations to families affected by the storm and in need of assistance.
“It’s hard, even for students who aren’t from Cedar Rapids,” Cavanagh said. “I think people are just wanting to help the community they call a second home. To have so many people reach out and ask about donating felt really nice to know we’re all giving back to the community. I also think that is a big part of Greek life that often gets overlooked, but it’s a big part of who we are.”
Coe sororities and fraternities complete an average of 5,000 service hours and raise over $25,000 for charity every academic year.