On Saturday April 21^st, 4 brothers walked their dogs around Downtown Raleigh during the K9-3K dog walk. Our team raised $135 for the Wake County SPCA animal shelter. Donations support an animal shelter that was able to help over 16,200 animals last year. Last semester, many brothers volunteered in the shelter’s food pantry and enjoy working with the shelter. Each person raised at least $25 to participate in a great cause while socializing dogs. A couple team members even agreed to walk other people’s dogs. Brothers as well as the dogs enjoyed the event.

On Tuesday April 17th, 22 brothers participated in Sigma Alpha’s 10th Annual Fundraiser Swing-a-Thon. The Swing-a-Thon raises money for the Agriculture in the Classroom programs. Each person pays $10 to swing on a porch swing for fifteen minutes. Many organizations on campus participate in this fundraiser and if an organization raises over $100 they get recognition on the T-shirt they give all of the participants.

On Friday and Saturday April 13th and 14th, ­­27 brothers attended NCSU’s Relay for Life in Lee Field. NC Alpha Zeta was selling baked goods and soda, we raised about $600 to donate to the American Cancer Society.  Everyone had the chance to walk around the track as long as they wanted to support everyone participating. There were people selling pizza, chicken wings, French fries, fried oreos, hot chocolate and several other great things. Several of the brothers decided to stay longer than their shift, some even all night. This was a great time for service,fundraising and fellowship for the Brotherhood.

On Saturday March 31st, 10 brothers met in the afternoon to give a group of 40 high school students a tour of NC States campus. We started off at one of the Dormitories to give them a sneak peak to what a typical room looks like. Then we headed to central campus to give them the low down of the buildings and what exists there. After that we went to the Court of the Carolinas where we witnessed a Quidditch tournament going on. From there we went to the Bell Tower and passed Holiday Hall to Reynolds Coliseum. We finally got ice cream at our creamery on campus and went to the bookstore for the kids to buy things if they wanted. The group had a great time and learned a lot. The point of the trip was to show them that it was possible to attend college and there are a lot of opportunities to get them to college also.

On April 4th, the Connecticut Chapter hosted a training session for students in the College of Agriculture. This Husky Ambassador Training allowed our students to help out and volunteer at our Open House sessions for new and incoming University students. Volunteers signed up for time slots and locations, and spent the day on April 14th on campus, directing potential students, answering questions, assisting professors and spreading Husky pride.

On Friday March 30th, 10 brothers went to the Country Day Montessori Preschool to give them a lesson about chickens and pigs. We took with us three bantum chickens and an 8 week old pig. The kids enjoyed being able to pet the animals and the brothers also enjoyed the time with the kids and being able to introduce them to agriculture when some of them probably never would have had that chance. It amazes us as to how many children do not get introduced to agriculture at a young age...

Throughout Agriculture Awareness Week, the Brotherhood offered many events to involve students and faculty in the celebration of agriculture. We decided this year to set up on Sunday to make sure everything was good to go on Monday. The animals were settled in and the tables were set up so that the clubs throughout the College of Ag and Life Sciences could set up when they arrived on Monday morning. That afternoon we held Ag Olympics. A few faculty members volunteered to compete in the competitions we had including a piece of pie eating contest...

On Sunday March 11th, 7 brothers went and helped at the Wake County 4H Workshop. The brothers got to speak with Middle School students about agriculture. A lot of the students were in the Horse club, but there were other students who were in the different clubs that are offered in Wake County. They played an Ag Trivia game where they had to answer various questions about agriculture. The students also got to ask the brothers questions about college and what it was all about so they would know the process to applying and what kind of majors they would be able to choose. Brother Kirby talked to them about the Pre-Vet program at NCSU.

http://youtu.be/KVUVeUXm5J0

This past weekend, 13 brothers of the Alpha Zeta Cook Chapter participated in this year's Dance Marathon (many more volunteered!).  We raised over $6000 for the Embrace Kids foundation and continue to raise money for it...

The Cal Epsilon Chapter decided to expand its Ag in the Classroom efforts to Farm and Nutrition Day this year. The event was open to third grade students from neighboring schools; over 1000 students came. Approximately 50 short classes put together by local businesses and organizations were set up for the students to experience. These sessions included nutritional demos, live animals, plant based activities, and much more. The goal was to introduce children to the values of good health and nutrition habits, as well as educate them about agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley and California...