The men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity hosted their first-ever SAE Charity Bowl Mini Camp Sunday, April 13. The fraternity invited campers from the Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp, a camp designed for adults and children with disabilities.

The event included stations and games on the intramural fields across from Fraternity Row. The children were able to practice football drills, toss the football to one another and of course, show off their tackling skills. The fraternity also offered hula-hoops and jump ropes for the children to play with.

Sorority women also came out to the intramural fields to lead games such as Red Rover and Duck, Duck, Goose.

After the games, attendees were invited back to the SAE house to enjoy a cookout filled with more activities, such as face painting done by the ladies of Delta Delta Delta sorority. The campers were also awarded medals by the fraternity men for their participation in the games.

In past years, SAE has hosted Charity Bowl, a full-contact football game between fraternities. During halftime, they have a member of the civitan participate in an activity and be recognized. This year, they added the mini camp to encourage members to become more involved and invested in their philanthropy while also providing a fun-filled day for the campers.

Sophomore Josh Moquin serves as co-philanthropy chair along with fellow sophomore Blake Coco.

“We decided to add this mini camp to our charity bowl week because we wanted to not just donate our money, but donate our time,” Moquin said. “I think that spending time with the kids of the civitan camp is just as important as the money in which we donate. We get to put a smile on a kids face and that is what its all about.”

Terri Daniels, director of the Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp, came to enjoy the two-hour mini camp and cookout.

“It’s great to see the volunteers at the end of the first week of camp,” Daniels said. “They aren’t afraid of what they don’t understand anymore and many go on to work with people with disabilities in the future.”

SAE will host their annual Charity Bowl game April 25 at 5 p.m. at M.M. Roberts Stadium. They will also host a cheerleading competition April 24 at 6 p.m.

“We may be doing this camp and charity bowl to help out the Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp, but the campers give us back much more,” Coco said.

The Abbie Rogers Civitan Camp was founded 53 years ago. The camp lasts for two weeks during the summer and is for children of all ages. Typically, the camp is host to 85 campers every summer. The camp schedules daily activities such as arts and crafts, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and many more activities. In the fall, they offer a weekend-long camp for adults to participate in.