This upcoming week, third-year marketing student Daniel Fry will be taking part in a service trip to Baltimore, Maryland. He will be taking the trip with the Break A Difference program through his fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi.
Throughout the trip, Fry will be focusing on creating green spaces in the inner city, feeding the homeless, stocking food cupboards and working with the youth in the area through school initiatives.
With his current position on the executive board in Phi Kappa Psi, he has become closer with the director from the Phi Psi foundation, which encouraged him to get involved on the national level.
Fry was chosen for this project in a national search conducted by the fraternity. After an application including transcripts, three letters of recommendation and several narrative essays, Fry and one other candidate were chosen out of all other undergraduate Phi Psi brothers to participate in service trips.
This service was financed completely through the Phi Psi foundation.
“It’s definitely not a luxurious thing because I’ll be sleeping on a collapsible cot in a YMCA,” Fry chuckled.
He is continually thankful for the opportunity to participate in the trip through Phi Psi. According to the Break A Difference website, the trip would cost around $395, excluding a plane ticket price.
This service project is conducted through Phi Kappa Psi’s philanthropy, The Boys and Girls Club of America, in partnership with The United Way. It is a new program, so he will be participating in their first round of service projects this week.
Service has always been important to him; he previously held the co-service chair position in his fraternity and completed service projects nearly every weekend.
Phi Kappa Psi has been known historically for service, having the highest number of service hours logged in the Interfraternity Council on the national level.
While the trip does focus mainly on service to communities, there will also be leadership and development activities as well as exploration of the community in Baltimore.
Fry has stressed that although this is something of excitement for him, he does not want focus to be put on just his personal achievement in going on this trip.
“I really owe it to community, Capital and Phi Psi. Those three things have gotten me where I am today, honestly,” Fry said.
Fry will arrive in Baltimore on Sunday and continue serving the community over the next week, hoping to make a difference and embrace the values of his fraternity and the university in the Break A Difference work.
