Alpha females

Every Friday morning, several women from Alpha Gamma Delta can be seen at the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, where they collect food and distribute it to other nonprofit organizations across six counties in southern Indiana.

Speaking about her sorority, President Annie Raeder focused on this service to the community. She said the four tenets she and her sisters live by are personal leadership development, sisterhood, scholarship and, of course, philanthropy. It is the scope of their philanthropic activities, though, that differentiates them from other Greek houses on campus.

Members of Alpha Gamma Delta are constant volunteers for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, said Kim Kanney, volunteer coordinator for Hoosier Hills. The sorority has been volunteering for Hoosier Hills Food Bank for several years.

AGD is so involved with Hoosier Hills that it started the organization Friends of Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Kanney said the group’s purpose is to organize food drives by collaborating with the University’s residence halls, six other sororities and two churches and setting up food drives at all of those locations. Although the group was started by AGD members, anyone is welcome to join the organization.

Besides collecting food, AGD is willing to help Hoosier Hills Food Bank with whatever it needs. Members of AGD even painted the walls of Hoosier Hills Food Bank when they switched locations.

“We are definitely very appreciative of their contributions,” Kanney said.

Raeder’s past experiences with how the greek system interacts with the community prepared her to be Alpha Gamma Delta’s president. Currently a junior, she participated in the Junior Greek Council, which had representatives from each house meet every week to discuss issues and make improvements. Along with the Junior Greek Council, Raeder played a role in IMPACT, a weekend-long leadership retreat that reiterates Greek values.

“I wanted to bring all the things I learned back to the chapter,” Raeder said.
Alpha Gamma Delta, a large Greek house for the IU campus, has 121 members.

Raeder thinks having so many sisters can be a great boon to Bloomington’s and the University’s charities. Her goal is to have 95 percent of the members involved with community-oriented activities, such as Student Alumni, Dance Marathon, Union Board, Honors Society and other service clubs. Raeder said this goal is close to being met, if it has not been met already.

Kerry Koebe, who handles public relations for the sorority, pledged as a freshman. She said she loves that it is easy to get involved with the sorority’s philanthropic activities. Koebe and Raeder are proud that Alpha Gamma Delta has made a difference in the community through Hoosier Hills, and both AGD and Hoosier Hills look forward to continuing their partnership.

“They are a group of very generous and good-hearted women,” Kanney said.