Pitt fraternity collects blankets for Wrap Up America

Members of Pitt’s Greek Life took Saturday afternoon to relive their childhoods by tying… Members of Pitt’s Greek Life took Saturday afternoon to relive their childhoods by tying together multicolored blankets and draping them from precariously constructed taped-together white pipes in the Bellefield Hall gym.

Running in and out of the structures, the participants risked toppling the swaying pipes by adding blankets to the towers that rose from the ground in contorted shapes. After the tower building competition, the blankets were donated help those in need.

“It’s fun to see college kids giddy, crawling around and building forts. It allows us to be little kids again,” said sophomore Kelsey Hughes, a member of the Chi Omega sorority who participated in the event.

Pitt’s Sigma Chi fraternity and representatives from on-campus sororities participated in bringing Wrap Up America, an organization that collects blankets for those in need, to Pitt for Sigma Chi’s second annual Wrap Up America blanket drive.

The three-hour event, which drew hundreds of Greek Life participants, took place from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. The organization collected 2,290 blankets to give to the greater Pittsburgh community.

“We are very excited to put on this event for the second year,” said sophomore Andrew Hansen, Sigma Chi’s campus representative for Wrap Up America. “I feel like the organization is a good way for people to get involved in a great cause and students are able to give back to those less fortunate who, under different circumstances, could be in our place.”

Wrap Up America is an emerging non-profit organization based in Louisville, Ky., that partners with college campuses and their organizations to collect blankets for distribution to community members in need.

This year, Pitt beat its goal of 2,000 blankets donated and partnered with The Salvation Army’s Project Bundle-Up to arrange for the blankets to be distributed to shelters in the Greater Pittsburgh area. This number surpassed last year’s collection of 1,100 blankets.

“We’ve collected 2,290 blankets to set the record for the most blankets donated in a single Wrap Up event,” Hansen said. “We’ve gotten so many involved because we offer a fun competition for the participating sororities.”

Trevor Joelson, president of the Wrap Up America organization, attended the event to support the expansion of the organization to Pittsburgh and to share the story behind the inspiration of the event.

Joelson’s father, Harlan Joelson, had been working as a campaign manager on his grandfather’s campaign for mayor in Toledo, Ohio, in 1993. As he parked his truck to hang up a campaign sign, a man jumped out of a cardboard box in front of the truck and asked, “Hey man, why are you parking in front of my house?”

“My father was not scared, but he was taken aback that this poverty was happening in his hometown where he was living, working and raising his children,” Joelson said. “The first thing that he could think to do was get a blanket from his home and give it to that man who in turn said, ‘Thank you.’”

Joelson established the Wrap Up America organization in 1994.

“The need for blankets is undeniable,” Joelson said. “But charity has to also be fun, so we developed a stimulus for giving. People know that giving to those in need is right, but they have to have the drive to actually do it, and pairing donations with a competition provides that drive to give.”

Hansen and his Sigma Chi brothers worked with Joelson to bring that drive to Pittsburgh.

Sigma Chi paired up with members of other sororities to expand the reach of their donations. By pairing five brothers, acting as site supervisors, with each sorority team, the groups were able to work together to produce the forts with the donated blankets each group brought. The blankets were either gently used, newly purchased from local stores or bought through Wrap Up America’s online buying system.

The online donation system is run through Wrap Up America’s online website and allows those who donate to choose a campus, team and the number of blankets to give. The site uses PayPal’s nonprofit portal to collect the donations prior to the event. Blankets are then purchased in bulk and delivered to the fort building site.

Participating teams build blanket forts with their collected blankets and PVC pipe pieces to compete for trophies. Groups can win the grand prize or qualify for several honorable mention categories, including most notable design, most structurally sound and overall enthusiasm. The pipes support the blankets, and teams can trade out blankets for other materials.

The sorority teams participated with the goal of earning the $150 grand prize to donate to a charity of their choice.

Hansen, along with a judging panel of Sigma Chi alumni, declared the Delta Zeta sorority the grand prizewinner with the best fort. The winner’s trophy will be engraved and passed down to each winning team as the event continues in the future.

The focus of the event, and the goal of the organization, is to collect blankets, but students found that building forts and participating in a competition is a positive incentive to get involved.

Junior Melissa Berman, a member of the Chi Omega sorority, said the event’s purpose was much greater than just allowing college students to build forts.

“The event allows people to socialize and have fun, but it also raises awareness of our city’s homeless community,” Berman said. “It makes a difference to be able to see in one place how many blankets are collected. Each blanket goes to a person, and we can see how many people are actually in need of them.”

Hansen shared his hopes for the future of Pitt’s involvement with Wrap Up America. He said that while Greek Life has been “a driving force” in Wrap Up at Pitt, he hopes to expand his partnerships with other on-campus organizations, such as the Pathfinders, the Blue and Gold Society and Student Government Board, among others.

“The way my Sigma Chi brothers and I see it, the sky is the limit for us right now. We hope to some day be able to provide food and shelter along with the blankets to help people fully get back on their feet,” Hansen said.

“It’s great to see so many college kids come together for a cause,” Hughes said.

Senior Lauren Hunter joined her Tri Delta sisters in competing for the trophy and $150 grand prize.

“It’s a lot of fun to be competitive, and the event is a good way to get everyone together and participating in a good cause,” Hunter said. “Sigma Chi always does a great job with their philanthropy and they’re giving us the opportunity to raise money for our own so we were happy to join.”