Adelphi frat fasts
for 24 hours
Kappa Sigma at Adelphi University has been fasting and raising money for Island Harvest over the last eight years to raise awareness of hunger on Long Island. Each year the fraternity surpassed the previous record. Last year Kappa Sigma raised $3,695 and collected $1,850 pounds of food for Island Harvest.
Island Harvest is an organization that rescues and distributes food for the hungry of New York.
The “Super Hungerfest” kickoff took place on Feb. 1 in Adelphi’s Ruth S. Harley University Center Lower Level. The event consisted of an “open mic” for music and comedy performed by Kappa Sigma brothers Rob Carroll and Mike Mayer, as well as a speech by Long Island Harvest volunteer and spokesperson Jim Broderick. A short film entitled The Volunteer about fighting hunger in Long Island, by Hofstra University graduate student Pat Mantle, was also screened at the kickoff.
“Super Hungerfest is a very important event to Kappa Sigma,” said senior and President Michael Manzo. “Not only does it help thousands of people on Long Island, it brings together our chapter and challenges us every year to surpass the previous record.”
Brothers of the fraternity not only collected money and food for the charity, but spent the 24 hours prior to the Super Bowl fasting to raise awareness of the situation. Kappa Sigma also added new ways to help increase donation amounts for Island Harvest.
“With this being my third Super Hungerfest, it has truly been a pleasure seeing the evolution of this event,” said senior and secretary Richard Tarantola. “This year we have added new aspects to help reach our goal of $4,000 and 2,000 pounds of food. Now anyone can donate to the cause electronically via PayPal. This event can only continue to grow, it shows the Adelphi community that it is always important to give back and support something bigger than yourself.”
For some brothers, the event has become ritual, but for others it is a brand new experience.
“I think fasting 24 hours for my first Super Hunger Fest is going to be tough, but the reasoning behind it gives a lot of meaning,” said sophomore Andrew Stone at the kickoff event. “But I know we’ve all been collecting and spreading the word for a while so I’m excited to see if we can break last year’s record.”
As of press time, Kappa Sigma had not received their final numbers of money and food donated as the results were to be delivered on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the Island Harvest headquarters. The fraternity will bring all food donations to Island Harvest for weighing and distribution.
