Sunday evening, Sigma Alpha Epsilon hosted a barbecue for 27 teens and 13 staff members from Phoenix House. SAE has worked with teenagers from Phoenix House, the nation’s largest non-profit prevention and treatment facility for drug and alcohol abuse, since last spring.
When the fraternity was assigned a mandatory service project as part of its deferred suspension, “Phoenix House was an easy choice because we were already looking forward to working with the organization because it is such a worthwhile cause,” SAE Philanthropy Chair Charlie Manning said.
Through forming relationships with teens from Phoenix House who are recovering from alcohol and drug addictions, the fraternity hopes to “show them the benefits of making positive choices,” SAE President Taylor Callaway said.
“Although these kids have made some poor decisions in the past, they are in this program because they truly want to put their life back on the right track. We want to help them in any way we can,” Callaway said.
Fortunately, the sun tempered Sunday’s crisp fall temperature, providing ideal weather conditions for the fraternity members and their guests to play football and basketball on the backyard court often dubbed the “fratio.”
Manning said that “since the kids from the Phoenix House are between the ages of 13 and 17, it has been easy for us to get along and have fun together in many different settings.”
Some Phoenix House members who preferred to stay indoors challenged fraternity guys to foosball or pool, while others watched football. Upon the request of a few of the girls, one of the fraternity’s five TVs was spared to watch “Family Guy.”
While the kids got to know most of the 75 SAE fraternity members who attended the barbecue, a few guys were hidden from sight while working in the kitchen to cook burgers and hot dogs for the teens.
“Many of the Phoenix House members come from backgrounds in which they did not have any positive role models growing up. We want them to see that going to college is a good thing,” Callaway said.
The fraternity hopes that by serving the teens dinner at the house and attending sporting events such as Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars games together, the fraternity men will set a good example for the recovering teens.
“Whether taking the kids to Rangers games, helping with administrative work or planning the vegetable garden we are going to plant for the house, every member has walked away proud to be working with such a great organization that has the ability to change young lives,” Manning said.
Although the project began as an obligation due to the fraternity’s deferred suspension, SAE sees the chance to help the Phoenix House as an exciting opportunity to better the Dallas community.
“We have really enjoyed this experience and believe we have actually made a difference,” Callaway said. “We will continue to support Phoenix House in the spring, and we hope to enlist the help of other student organizations.”
