Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will host its 19th annual Charity Bowl at The Rock to benefit the Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp on April 15 at 5 p.m..
According to the Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp website, high school students volunteer at the camp every year to work with children and adults with disabilities, and the campers receive companionship and acceptance in return.
Charity Bowl, a football game that involves members of the entire Greek Life community, is held each spring to raise money for the summer camp for adults and children with disabilities.
Fraternities will participate in a bidding session to be the team that plays against SAE, then both teams will draft players from any chapter to build their team. This year, the opposing team will be Sigma Chi fraternity.
Following the Charity Bowl, SAE will also host the Civijam Festival on the intramural fields, where Southern Miss students and Civitan campers can enjoy the festivities together on April 16 from noon to 4 p.m.
Civijam will include live music, homemade jambalaya and snow cones for sale and the crowning of Miss Civitan 2016.
Attendees can play games, try their luck at a dunking booth and pie an SAE member.
The festival’s live music lineup will include Haley Line, Billy Mauldin and Cameron Cloud with Jackson Bounds, all students at Southern Miss.
Senior marketing major Blake Coco organized the week’s events and has served as the fraternity’s philanthropy chair for the past three years.
“In the past, we only held our Charity Bowl annually,” Coco said. “But in recent years we decided to bring the camp atmosphere to Southern Miss and throw a Civijam festival for the campers, which gives our members a chance to spend time with them and understand more about our cause.”
Coco said the event would not be possible without the support of the chapter and the local community.
Senior therapeutic recreation major Rhea Phillips Valentine, a member of the Chi Omega sorority, has volunteered at Civitan Camp for the past eight years.
“There’s nothing like watching a child with disabilities break out of his or her shell by getting the chance to accomplish goals and feel like the most important person on the planet,” Valentine said. “Over the past few years, I have had the chance to attend Civijam and see the difference it makes by fundraising for Civitan Camp. I could not be more thankful for the support that SAE gives us, and I can’t wait to attend Civijam again this year.”
In addition to the events on Friday and Saturday, SAE will host a profit-share at Raising Cane’s April 11.
Members are also selling t-shirts and inviting sororities to participate in a spirit link competition, the winner of which will nominate a member to be crowned Miss Civijam.
For more information on Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp, visit the camp’s website at abbierogerscivitancamp.org.
