Many members of our chapter have parents, grandparents or great-grandparents who were immigrants to America. Being able to help families who are in a situation similar to what our's were once in is a great privilege. During one of our recent events with JRA, our chapter's members delivered food to over 100 families.
Delta Rho also participates in the Alpha Epsilon Pi International goal to raise money for Ethiopian Jewish Community Centers in Israel. Two such Israeli centers which help integrate Ethiopian immigrants into Israeli society will benefit from the philanthropic efforts of Alpha Epsilon Pi over the next two years. The centers in Be'er Sheva and Lod provide computer and vocational training, academic tutoring, and other programming to help the Ethiopian community fully integrate into Israeli life and culture. Previous international philanthropic efforts have included raising over $100,000 for Magen David Adom (of which Delta Rho brothers, alumni and parents raised a combined $3,000) and $135,000 for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Alpha Epsilon Pi's first encounter with the Ethiopian Jewish Community Centers came during the fraternity's first birthright Israel trip in January 2004 when participants visited the Winnipeg Center in Be'er Sheva. That encounter proved to be one of the most significant and universally enjoyed aspects of the trip. Since then members of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel have been extremely well received by Alpha Epsilon Pi chapters and at the fraternity's regional leadership conclaves as they travel through North America as part of the Israel at Heart program.
The new International philanthropy was selected by delegates to Alpha Epsilon Pi's 91st Anniversary Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. "The selection of the Ethiopian Community Centers as Alpha Epsilon Pi's International Philanthropy will hopefully serve as the mechanism to educate our chapters, North America's Jewish community, and the campus population at large about these often overlooked members of the Jewish people," explained Lorber Director of Jewish Programming Jonah Zinn.