UK Betas Think Internationally, Act Locally with Service Project

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 17, 2011) – The men of the Epsilon Omicron Colony of Beta Theta Pi joined forces with the Lexington-based International Book Project last week to assist the organization in packaging books for shipment to underprivileged areas. Over the course of the three days, each brother participated and was excited to be a part of one of Lexington’s premier outreach projects.

The International Book Project provides books to disadvantaged areas all over the world, and thrives from book donations from the community.

“IBP serves a very noble and often overlooked cause," said Andrew Jones, community service chair and event organizer for Beta Theta Pi. "They are a small operation that sends out millions of books to every corner of the globe. Since they have a small staff, Beta was able to accomplish three weeks' worth of work in three days.”

The fraternity members assisted the project by sorting and packaging thousands of donated books to be shipped, as well as preparing shelves for the fall book sale that was held Oct. 14 and 15. Tracy Taylor, executive director of the organization, estimated that by the end of the three days, the members of Beta packaged around 1,700 books for Rwanda, 1,300 for Ghana, 800 for Ethiopia and 750 for Mozambique.

The colony puts a strong emphasis on being involved in and serving the community. Each member commits at least 20 hours of service per semester. To learn more about the Epsilon Omicron Colony, visit www.ukbeta.org. To learn more about the work of the International Book Project, visit www.internationalbookproject.org.