Bands Battle to Save Lives
Oct 29, 2013 by Gift of Life
News
For the past five semesters, the University of North Carolina’s Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity has been running week-long bone marrow drives during its Battle of the Bands event. Everyone who registers with Gift of Life receives a complimentary event ticket when they sign up.
AEPi’s philanthropy chair changes every semester and this semester’s chair, Jake, explained that the Battle of the Bands is their fraternities’ signature event. “We put a twist on it every semester, but Gift of Life is our go-to,” he said, “because of our similar background, and the cause it’s for, we have the ideal partnership.” Jake expressed that if his fraternity had the opportunity to help, and did not, they would be doing a disservice. He considers cancer a “universal cause” and cannot think of a better cause to support.
The partnership between Gift of Life and AEPi began over a decade ago. Current brothers and alumni throughout the United States open their doors to Gift of Life allowing us to save lives together. Adam Maslia, AEPi’s Director of Jewish Programming, explained that he was thrilled by the work the Omega chapter is doing for Gift of Life, “UNC exemplifies one of our central tenets, to put time into volunteering. They set up tables and run them in order to save lives.”
Over the past five semesters, or two and a half years, the UNC AEPi chapter has tested over 200 students. “That’s incredible!” Jake exclaimed when he learned the number, “that’s exactly what I want to hear.” For now, the AEPi contestants are putting away their cymbals until the next Battle of the Bands drive in the Spring.
