Category Archives: Community Involvement

2021 Habitat for Humanity

The Alpha Gamma chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity is proud to be a partner with the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge for our 17^th year.  Over the week of April 12, 2021, Pike chapter members and other Greeks worked to build 2 homes for the Prater and Leatherman families in Baton Rouge.   

The Pikes and Greek community raised over $100,000 this year to build the homes and provided the labor needed to complete the task in only 1 week.  This undertaking is a year long event with the chapter hosting multiple letter writing solicitations that each of our chapter members completes each year.  Pike has proudly sponsored this event that culminates in over 6000 hours of community service annually.  

During the past 15 years, the Pikes and LSU’s Greek Community have raised more than $2.3 million dollars and built 30 houses during the annual Greek Week Habitat Build in the spring. The LSU Greek Week Build was the first in the U.S. to partner a major university’s entire Greek community with a Habitat affiliate.  Since the first Greek Week Build in 2004, over 15,000 LSU fraternity and sorority members have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, donating over 50,000 hours of service. The Pikes and other Greeks work alongside the homeowner-partners to build the houses, learning firsthand about poverty, its effects, and the need for affordable housing. Overall, Pike has been instrumental in helping nearly 40 adults and 60 children find a safe, stable place to live.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge, is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. Habitat brings together people with resources and people in need to build simple, decent, affordable houses. The houses are sold to those in need at no profit, through no-interest loans. Habitat of Greater Baton Rouge was founded in 1989 and has built and renovated 353 homes in the Greater Baton Rouge area. Volunteers interested in helping with Habitat for Humanity projects or offering donations can call us at 927-6651 or visit http://www.habitatBR.org.

Giving Back after Hurricane Laura Damage

The global pandemic is not the only challenge that we have had to face this year in Louisiana. 

In August 2020, Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana. Hurricane Laura has been  one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in Louisiana. Only a week after school began, members of the LSU community struggled to make ends meet as their homes were ripped away from them by a deadly hurricane. 

In response to the damage, the LSU PIKE chapter stepped up and contributed to many efforts to help our brothers and neighbors recover from this hurricane. Although the hurricane did not greatly affect the LSU Baton Rouge area, the hurricane destroyed Southwest Louisiana.

In the weeks following the hurricane, we did as much as we could to help the community. We held a donation drive of supplies that members of the Southwest Louisiana area needed. From the drive, we gathered over $400 of supplies to donate. 

Following the donation drive, we donated $1,500 toward disaster relief in Louisiana. 

Lastly, our members traveled to the Lake Charles area to help members of the community clean up debris and the impact of the hurricane. We witnessed first-hand the damage Hurricane Laura did to Lake Charles. 

Southwest Louisiana is still suffering from the damage of Hurricane Laura, and if you would like to donate to their relief efforts, please head to the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana website. No contribution is too small.