Greenfeather helps 10 community partners

The Greenfeather chalk art competition is an annual favorite.

Greenfeather 2012 took Stetson’s campus by storm this year. Sixteen teams of students participated in a variety of different events, Oct. 29-Nov. 4, to raise money and awareness for local non-profit organizations.

Not only was Greenfeather 2012 successful, it was record-breaking. The fundraiser, which was originally designed in 1952, had the highest student turn-out ever. Due to the increased participation, Stetson was able to fund 10 community partners with $1,000 grants each.

“Greenfeather is one of the best memories I have of Stetson,” said senior Emily Dudley, director of Greenfeather. “It’s a time when students come together to compete, work together and enjoy, not only being a Stetson Hatter, but also being a part of the DeLand community. This week made me more proud than ever to call myself a Stetson Hatter.”

The executive committee of this year’s Greenfeather worked tirelessly to create a fun, organized and successful week. This year’s focus was on Youth Empowerment so the committee reached out to any local non-profit groups that worked with young adults. The executive committee also offered downtown DeLand restaurants the opportunity to be part of Night-Out Events, in which all participating groups could go to the specific restaurant and 10 percent of what they purchased went towards Greenfeather.

Congratulations to Mr. and Miss Greenfeather 2012, Jeremy Goldberg ’14, Delta Sigma Phi, and Lindsay Brown ’13, Zeta Tau Alpha. They raised the most money for their respective non-profit organizations, as well as the most community service hours within their Greek organizations as a whole.

“Considering the magnitude of Greenfeather this year, the executive board did a fantastic job of planning and facilitating Greenfeather,” said Hussein Hussein, president of Delta Sigma Phi. “Their time and dedication to the fundraiser were obvious in all that they did, and it was a very enjoyable experience.”

Not only did they work with the community, the committee also created different competitions for the organizations to take part in for points. Some of this year’s competitions included window painting, Greenfeather Olympics, chalk art, the Mr. and Miss Greenfeather pageant, Airwaves and much more. The groups with the most points will be the overall winners of Greenfeather 2012, which will be announced at the closing banquet on Nov. 15.

The non-profit organizations that Greenfeather worked with were: FUTURES/Take Stock in Children, MainStreet DeLand Association Inc., FUTURES Foundation of Volusia County Schools, Alliance for International Reforestation (AIR), Chisholm Community Center, Halifax Health/Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, Volusia/Flagler Family YMCA, New Horizons Service Dogs and the Easter Seal Society of Volusia & Flagler Counties, Inc.

by Lindsay Brown, SUM Intern