By Maya Butler | Reporter
A plate of spaghetti will fittingly be the main dish served at the ninth annual Spaghetti Not So Formal from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Barfield Drawing Room.
Each year, Panhellenic sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and fraternity Alpha Tau Omega cohost the dinner to raise awareness and money for the sorority’s philanthropy, Reading is Fundamental. According to the philanthropy’s website it “is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content to make an impact and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success.”
In addition, the website says the philanthropy “has distributed over 415 million books and impacted the lives of more than 40 million children in all 50 states.”
Allen junior Maddie Nelson explained what she is the most excited for at the event.
“I am really excited to get to see our two organizations come together to support children’s literacy and raise awareness by bringing it to the whole Baylor community,” Nelson said.
According to Kappa’s chapter website, the vision of the founders of Kappa Kappa Gamma were “taught to love learning and literature.” It was this vision that led to a national partnership with Reading is Fundamental.
Dallas senior Megan Giotes, president of Kappa Kappa Gamma, explained the importance of hosting the annual dinner for the philanthropy.
“We take it [reading] for granted, we take our education for granted,” Giotes said. “We want to raise awareness and funds to get books and access to tutoring for children to learn to read all over the country.”
The dinner, consisting of spaghetti, salad, bread, cake and tea, will cost $5. T-shirts will be sold for $10, and students wishing to purchase both a dinner and a T-shirt can receive a discounted price of $13 for both.
The two organizations will post flyers around campus and at the dinner revealing facts about children’s literacy so students will fully realize the impact their contribution can have on kids.
Nelson said last year’s Spaghetti Not So Formal raised about $1,700 for their philanthropy, and they hope to raise even more this Thursday.
San Antonio senior Micah Damrow, president of Alpha Tau Omega, echoed Giotes’ thoughts about the effect the event has on Reading is Fundamental.
“The impact that it could bring to underprivileged kids all over the country, even though it’s kind of indirectly, and you don’t really see exactly how that’s affecting a person … I think that brings a certain level of comfort to me, and I hope it does to everybody else as well,” Damrow said.
