By Madalyn Watson | Staff Writer
The men of Kappa Alpha Order (KA) served the Animal Birth Control Clinic, Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Their members plan to serve the community in this way most weekends this semester.
The Animal Aid Humane Society created the Animal Birth Control Clinic in 1988 to offer affordable spay and neuter surgeries to the public in order to prevent unwanted animals.
Nellie Fitzjarrell, the communications manager at the Animal Birth Control Clinic, said that the clinic also offers heartworm and flea prevention, vaccines and testing and other wellness options for low-income pet owners in the area.
“[KA helped] us move some boxes that we couldn’t handle, they were very heavy, so that was fantastic. It was like the perfect assembly line of guys, and then all of the sudden it was gone within ten minutes,” Fitzjarrell said.
After coffee and breakfast tacos, KA members started their service by forming an assembly line out the door of the clinic and passed heavy boxes of waste to the dumpster.
Colorado Springs, Colo. senior Andrew Lee, the community service chair of KA, brought coffee and breakfast tacos from Rudy’s for all of the men who were volunteering.
“[Community service] is very easy to do. All sorts of organizations always need help,” Lee said.
Lee decided to schedule service events for his fraternity brothers to give back when they were struggling to find volunteer opportunities on their own.
Lee reached out to Dr. Doriann Beverly, the interim senior coordinator for community service, in Baylor’s Academy for Leadership Development and Community Engagement & Service when he was looking for ways that he and his fraternity brothers could help serve the community.
“My goal is always just to make Waco better. I like getting my guys out to make sure they can help make Waco better,” Lee said.
Beverly suggested he contact the Animal Birth Control Clinic along with other organizations that motivated him and the other members of KA to volunteer and serve.
“All sorts of organizations always need help. We used to partner with the VA hospital, but their head of volunteer services left — they’re in the middle of transitioning and finding a new one — so it’s hard to work with them right now,” Lee said.
Other than moving boxes, some members of KA stayed inside the clinic to paint the walls of their cat room as others worked outside the clinic.
“Today was a special day. I actually pulled together projects specifically for KA to do because they were like, ‘Hey, we’ve got this group of guys.’ I’m like, ‘That’s awesome,’” Fitzjarrell said.
Fort Worth sophomore Allen Jamir, the social media chair for KA, helped beautify the yard around the clinic by picking up trash and yard waste.
“I really enjoy doing the community service with the guys because I think it brings us all closer together. It might not be the [most fun] thing, but it’s really great to see these guys being real gentlemen out here, helping the community and being leaders in Baylor and in the Waco community,” Jamir said.
The previous Saturday, Feb. 16, members of KA assisted Things from the Heart resale store and Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry of Waco.
“Last weekend, we served with Things from the Heart resale store, so what they do is basically they provide clothing and household items at discounted prices,” Jamir said.
Jamir said that the proceeds from the resale store went to buying the food to feed thousands of families each month through Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry and their other pantries.
“They had a bunch of donations in a warehouse that they just couldn’t move. We had about 30 guys show up, and we got all their donations into a truck and the truck went from the warehouse to the resale store and then we unloaded all of their items into the resale store,” Lee said.
Atlanta sophomore Gary Martin enjoyed volunteering for all of his fraternity’s recent service events.
“If you need clothes for an interview, and you don’t have a lot of money, [the resale store] has suits for like 10 or 20 bucks there,” Martin said.
Martin said joining KA not only pushed him to give back to the community, but also inspired him to be a role model.
“They pushed me to be a better person and to grow in my faith and in community with others. As a person, I feel like I’m more outspoken and confident in myself now. So I was like, I feel like I can give back in that way, and so I joined KA,” Martin said.
Jamir also said that he joined KA because he wanted to emulate the good qualities of the members of KA he had met. He said that his chapter is full of gentlemen.
“I felt like it was a low pressure, kind of like you didn’t have to conform to anyone because not everyone was like one type of people,” Jamir said.
The men of Kappa Alpha Order finished their late morning of volunteering, by posting fliers for the clinic in the neighborhoods nearby. They had fun sharing the clinic’s goals and chatting with locals on their front porches.
“We’re just a group of guys that love Baylor and we love each other and we love the Lord,” Martin said.
Members of KA will continue the trend of spending their Saturday mornings giving back to the community.
Next Saturday, Mar. 3, the men of Kappa Alpha Order will volunteer with the Austin Boxer Rescue in Hewitt by walking and washing the dogs and helping clean up the facility.
“We’re going to walk them, wash them and just take care of the property over there,” Lee said. “The guys are excited about that one because they get to play with the animals.”
