In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity at UNC-Chapel Hill donated $17,600 on April 6 to a local nonprofit in order to help feed children in Orange County who normally depend on the breakfast and lunch offered at school for regular meals.

Vance Brice, President of the UNC Delta Kappa Epsilon, Beta Chapter, said: ‘Many children living in Chapel Hill and Carrboro rely on the breakfast and lunch provided by their public schools. As schools in the area have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, local communities have struggled to provide these kids with meals and nutrition. This donation represents something we can do to help other members of our community who are affected by this unprecedented crisis.’

Following UNC-Chapel Hill’s indefinite closure on March 20 due to COVID-19, Mr. Brice and the fraternity’s treasurer, Chris Vaughan, determined that $17,600 would be left over from each brother’s dues which covered meals for the remainder of the spring semester. Rather than allocate refunds or issue credit for the upcoming fall semester, DKE’s members and their parents agreed to donate those funds to TABLE, a local charity suggested to them by Meg Miller, the fraternity’s longtime house manager.

TABLE is a nonprofit organization based in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area that provides hunger relief and nutrition education services to children living in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and neighboring communities within Orange County.

Ashton Tippins, TABLE’s executive director, said: ‘TABLE is so grateful to DKE for their contribution to help us feed Orange County kids. As a result of DKE’s donation, we will be able to provide 8,800 meals and snacks to the roughly 600 hundred children we serve weekly.’

Scott Smith, DKE’s academic advisor and alumni board president, added: ‘I am proud of the example the UNC-DKE leadership and active members are setting. Showing compassion for others who may be less fortunate is more important than asking for a refund. This donation goes to show that fraternities like DKE at UNC can lead by example in our community. I hope their contribution to TABLE will challenge others in the UNC Greek system and throughout the country to consider doing more of the same.’

To learn more about TABLE and their relief efforts throughout Orange County click here. For any additional information regarding UNC-Chapel Hill’s response to COVID-19, please visit www.unc.edu/coronavirus.

Picture Above: DKE’s treasurer, Chris Vaughan (left), and president, Vance Brice (middle), meet with a TABLE employee at the nonprofit’s headquarters in Carrboro. Note, they are practicing social distancing.

Delta Kappa Epsilon is the oldest fraternity at UNC-Chapel Hill, formed on April 5, 1851. It is also the Beta Chapter, the ninth oldest DKE chapter in the United States. For more information about DKE or about the chapter’s donation to TABLE, please contact Mr. Brice at [email protected] or 919-457-3704.