While many TCU students were sleeping or tailgating the morning of the football game against West Virginia, members and alumni of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity partnered with Christ Chapel members to restore a Como-area home.
The Como neighborhood is located on the west side of Fort Worth near Arlington Heights and Ridgmar.
Christ Chapel had moved and repurposed three of their owned homes from Pershing Avenue to three vacant lots in Como in order to allocate for parking spaces needed by the church, said Brandon Stewart, an outreach assistant at Christ Chapel.
Two of the houses will be sold at an affordable rate, and the third will be donated to a campus ministry in the Como area, Stewart said.
In the month of October, the church has seen roughly 100 volunteers to the houses in over four weekends, Stewart said.
Daniel Lakenmacher, the vice president of philanthropy for Lambda Chi Alpha, volunteered his chapter to dedicate a Saturday morning and help with the efforts.
“Getting up early on a Saturday isn't the most pleasant idea, but afterwards, it was refreshing to complete a project and know you did something good for those less fortunate,” sophomore business major Danny Chapman said.
Volunteers painted the interior and exterior house, removed three truckloads of debris from the building, Lakenmacher said.
“The exterior painting Lambda Chi did was one more project that was checked off on our list,” Stewart said. “The new exterior paint helped the look dramatically.”
“It was a tremendous blessing to us, we were so happy they could help,” said Stewart.
The TCU chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha has a 56-year history of serving the Fort Worth community and plans to be involved in ongoing projects in the neighborhood next semester, said Tom Dolny, a 1977 TCU graduate and the chapter’s advisor.
“As far as community involvement, we are all a part of Fort Worth. Whatever we do to help one another, helps us all,” Dolny said.
In addition to community service projects, Lambda Chi Alpha held its annual philanthropy, Watermelon Bash in September to benefit the Tarrant County Food Bank.
“We love Watermelon Bash, but many members look to make a personal difference outside of TCU,” Lakenmacher said.
This year, Lambda Chi Alpha contributed 22,000 pounds of food to the food bank.
Tarrant County Food Bank distributes food to more than 40,000 households and serves more than 500,000 meals and snacks.
Lambda Chi Alpha is also participating in the Child Protective Services drive this week, Lakenmacher said.
Child Protective Services allows students or volunteers to donate a Christmas gift to a deserving child in the Fort Worth area, Lakenmacher said.
“I feel very blessed to be able to give my efforts to such a good cause, and create a positive image for Lambda Chi Alpha and, in general, fraternity life at TCU,” freshman political science major Chris Casel said.
