Theta Chi fraternity collects clothes for local College Park veterans

The Theta Chi fraternity is holding its first clothing drive this year.

The University of Maryland’s Theta Chi fraternity chapter is holding its first clothing drive to support College Park veterans.

Donation boxes were placed in 14 sorority and fraternity houses on Nov. 7 and will be collected Monday, said Eric Muccino, Theta Chi’s former philanthropy chairman.

“Most people have clothes they don’t need or want anymore,” said the junior physics major. “This is the first time we have done something like this. It seemed like the best way to make a difference.”

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This project is notable because many Greek life fundraisers have a tendency to exclusively raise money, said Frank Wu, Theta Chi’s historian.

“This is something different, and raising money is a lot harder,” the accounting and finance major said. “The weather is getting cold and winter is approaching. A lot of people have unwanted clothes.”

The chapter has collected about 25 bags of clothing from individual students so far, he said.

Earlier this year, several chapter members participated in a furniture-moving event sponsored by A Wider Circle, an organization seeking to end poverty in the Maryland and Washington area, Muccino said.

The organization’s staff said they needed clothing donations more than volunteers or checks, which encouraged fraternity members to start the drive, Muccino said.

The donated clothes will be given to a local location of GreenDrop, an organization that collects boxed items and distributes them to other charities. GreenDrop will distribute the items to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a veterans’ charity operated by wounded military men and women who received the Purple Heart medal for their service.

“I really thought this was something we could do as a chapter,” Muccino said. “I haven’t seen it done anywhere else in the Greek community and figured it was easy enough to do.”

The student with the most donations will receive a $100 Chipotle gift card, said Josh Maze, the chapter’s philanthropy chairman. The fraternity or sorority that collects the most clothing will also receive $200 to donate to the charity of its choice.

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“It is a good way to collect a lot of clothes with incentives,” the sophomore criminology and criminal justice major said. “We try to do philanthropy focused towards veterans and active service members. We thought this would be a different way to do that.”

Wu said he hopes the fraternity’s decision to encourage students outside of Greek life to donate will significantly increase the amount of clothes donated.

“I felt like we could help a lot more people,” Wu said. “I believed if I reached out to the entire University of Maryland, it would have a greater impact. I’m a strong believer everyone can make a difference, even if they think it is a small one.”

Muccino said collecting clothes for GreenDrop could become an annual event for Theta Chi.

“The prize can get bigger and bigger and hopefully we get more and more participants,” Muccino said. “Knowing we can have an impact on veterans in and near College Park makes us proud as a chapter. If anything, we hope to inspire some people to give back to those who serve us.”