Our chapter has partnered with Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers (OCWGA) to host monthly breakfasts during spring semester over different topics that our students have choosen and learned about while on their 6 week study abroad to Brazil. March's breakfast was focused on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Staff from OCWGA and industry experts on the subject joined members over coffee and breakfast to learn more about GMOs and how to handle the conversaiton with a peer who isn't knowledgable on the subject. The chapter heard from Allyson Perry with the Center for Food Integrity who gave a presentation and provided activities to stimulate conversation between experts and students and plans to practice the conversation.

On March 3, 2015, the Cal Epsilon chapter participated in the annual Kid's Day newspaper fundraiser, selling special editions of the Fresno Bee benefiting Valley Children's Hospital. The Cal Epsilon chapter sold 200 newspaper at an intersections on campus near the beef pastures. Cal Epsilon is proud to announce that we were able to raise over $376 to help Valley Children's Hospital! We are humbled to participate, once again, at this annual event and are proud to have made a difference in the lives of children across the valley.

Last week, brothers of the Florida Chapter coordinated with our current pledge class to conduct our first road clean up of the year!  We clean our road (which we adopted through the local Adopt-A-Street program) at least six times a year, so brothers are quite familiar with the process.  It was fun to be able to introduce some of the pledge class to what has become a service tradition for our chapter!

On Saturday, February 21st, the Florida Chapter participated in Project Makeover.  Project Makeover is a student-run nonprofit at the University of Florida that chooses an elementary school in Alachua County to makeover each year.  The projects are focused on improving the learning environment for students, whether it is through grounds beautification or the introduction of new learning tools.  This year's school was Metcalfe Elementary, and the overarching theme of the project was "play".  Our time at Project Makeover was spent beautifying one of the school's playgrounds.  We raked up bags and bags of leaves and pine needles, and we collected pine cones to be used for art projects.  Project Makeover was a perfect way to get connected to the community in a way we hadn't before, and we look forward to participating again in the future to help improve local education where we can.

On Saturday, February 7th, brothers from the Florida Chapter spent the morning at Wilmot Gardens.  Wilmot Gardens is a 5 acre area located on campus.  The garden serves the UF community as well as the patients receiving care at the Shands Medical Plaza adjacent to campus.  Wilmot Gardens is currently undergoing a restoration project that is focused on creating healing and meditation areas.  During our service at Wilmot Gardens, we helped with ground and plant maintenance for areas included in the restoration project.  The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed getting our hands dirty while contributing to a garden with such a great mission for our community!

For the first two weeks of the semester, brothers from the Florida Chapter participated in a shoe drive run by a UF student organization called Just Shoe It.  Throughout the year, Just Shoe It conducts several shoe collections, each focused on a different group of recipients.  For this collection, all donations went to local blueberry workers in need of sneakers or work boots.  It was great to be able to support local community members in agriculture!

Four members of the Townshend Chapter at The Ohio State University participated in Ohio State's annual dance marathon, BuckeyeThon.  BuckeyeThon is a 24 hour dance marathon divided into two 12 hour shifts that raises money for the Children's Miracle Network.  BuckeyeThon is also the largest student-run philantrophy at Ohio State and raises money for Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio throughout the year through a variety of events.  This year BuckeyeThon dancers raised over $1,231,290.00.  Alpha Zeta members were just four of the hundreds of dancers that never sat down during a 12 hour shift.  They danced the night away for the kids.     

Ohio Corn and Wheat has come to us looking for ways for them to get more invloved with our chapter and all that we do. For our first year members, they gave them each a $1,000.00 scholarship to help with expenses towards their Brazil study abroad trip. For our second and third year members we have set up four seminars that take place the first Tuesday each month for a breakfast. Topics were chosen by the members and each relate to things going on in agriclture today. For this first seminar it was a way that students could meet, talk and learn more about Ohio Corn and Wheat and what they do.

As our first confraternization of the year, we went to the movie theater, expecting to enjoy a nice movie and lively company.

We had our first fundraising of the year, a hot dog sale.