Service Goals for the 2007-08 School Year

Alpha Phi Omega won TSU's W.O and Flo Trogdon Organizational Service Award for the 2004-2005 school year, and our former Service VP Katy Thompson won the W.O. and Flo Trogdon Individual Award for Outstanding Service.

Last Year's Projects

•Campus Beautification-Campus Beautifications were organized on a monthly b asis in the spring semester. For the most part, they have focused on the alumni island area for reasons which will be discussed in questions 2 and 3. Generally it involves 8-12 people running 4 sweeps of the area to rid it of all trash possible.
•Merit Badge University-In conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America, Alpha Phi Omega has manned Merit Badge Universities both semesters this year that were organized at Tarleton. In the fall, 7 participants acted as hall monitors, and in the spring 7 participants acted as monitors, assistants, and taught classes in Astronomy, Atomic Energy, Archaeology, Computers, and Theatre. All participants worked over 2 weekends from roughly 9am to 2:30pm .
•TAT-Tarleton Alternative Transportation assists intoxicated individuals who would be of danger driving home from the bar in getting home. Alpha Phi Omega participated in TAT in the fall for the month of November, and in the spring for the month of February. Participants worked Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 pm until 1-3 am .
•STAR Council Battered Women's Shelter-The STAR Council contacted Alpha Phi Omega in the fall semester asking for assistance in man power and donations of goods to help get the project off the ground. Upon visiting the project and assessing the need, Alpha Phi Omega called upon members of the fraternity from the entire section to assist in the project and over one weekend a group of 52 members, including 22 from Tarleton, replaced ceiling tiles, ripped out ruined drywall, removed debris outside, swept, painted Kills for bacterial infestation, and base painted 2 of the 6 halls of the former nursing home that STAR council wishes to turn into a battered women's shelter. Alpha Phi Omega is further planning subsequent services and donations to help STAR Council in getting the grants needed to achieve the dream of a battered women's shelter for the area.
•Project HOPE-Alpha Phi Omega has participated in activities with Project HOPE (HOPE inc.) Tuesdays and Thursdays weekly in the Spring semester. Visits usually involve 3-5 members volunteering time between 9am and noon and working in sorting clothing for the store or cans for distribution.
•Tarleton Roundup-Alpha Phi Omega participated in Tarleton Roundup and, because of the participation of 19 members even had 2 teams working at different sites. One team dug a 4 foot wide 3 inch deep 12 foot long trench for a walkway, the other team raked up 57 bags of leaves from a single yard.
•Latchkey-In conjunction with the First United Methodist Church of Stephenville, Alpha Phi Omega assists in facilitating the Latchkey party, which is held once a month on a Friday and is an extension of the Treehouse after school program provided by the FUMC. Generally 3-7 members participate for roughly 2.5 hours. Activities have included a “Snowball Fight” with marshmallows and “fortune telling.”
•TREAT Carnival and Rodeo-In the Fall semester, Alpha Phi Omega assisted in the implementation of the Halloween carnival and rodeo. Members, numbering 9 in all, assisted in transporting disabled children around the barn in tours, and assisted in setting up the therapeutic rides that TREAT offers them.
•Adopt a Highway with TPE-Alpha Phi Omega assists Tarleton Professional Educators in the once a semester cleaning of their 2 mile stretch of highway 281. An average of 8 members work 2.5-3 hours picking up trash and other materials from the roadside.
•Rockhouse-In the fall semester, 5 members of Alpha Phi Omega assisted in making Christmas crafts with Rockhouse residents for 4 hours. Residents made Christmas ornaments out of ribbon and Styrofoam balls, and Christmas trees from pine cones.
•Cemetery Cleanup/Cataloging-In both semesters, Alpha Phi Omega has been involved in helping to clean small and out of the way cemeteries in the general Erath County area. In the fall, the historical Acock Cemetery was cleaned and 13 members cleaned and cataloged the East End Cemetery in town for the Genealogical Initiative, an online database that can be used to locate gravesites for friends, relatives, etc. All told, over 530 graves were cataloged with name, birth and death dates, epitaphs, and organizational denotations included.

New Service Projects for 2007-08

Summer Projects

•Organizational Recruitment During Orientations
•Trifold Making
•Donkey Day - Camp Billy Gibbons

Ideas?

For more information on our Service Program or to add ideas, feel free to contact our Service Vice President, Rachel Van Vleet, at bigrach2006@aol.com.