Sigma Pi shows some thanks

This Thanksgiving, certain Philadelphia senior citizens have a little more to be thankful for.

Yesterday afternoon, the Sigma Pi fraternity brothers opened their house and their dining room to senior citizens for a Thanksgiving lunch. Following lunch, College sophomore and cellist Meng Hsiung and a cappella group Counterparts provided musical entertainment.

Sigma Pi president and College senior Matthew Olund said that the fraternity had high hopes for the event.

"It's an event to bring the outside community to Penn and to show them that our fraternity is about more than just beer," Olund said.

Twenty-three seniors from the Mercy-Douglass/Shepard and Mercy-Douglass Stephen Smith senior centers attended the event, which Sigma Pi members said was deliberately placed right before Thanksgiving break.

"I thought the holiday season was a good time to bring people who are alone into our house," said College junior Shounak Sarkar, the Sigma Pi community service chair and event organizer.

"It's a nice cross-generational exchange," College junior Carton Rogers added.

Rogers organized the meal, which consisted of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, bread and corn -- all of the "traditional Thanksgiving foods," he said.

Although the event cost the fraternity approximately $450, and the brothers spent almost all of the previous night in preparation, Olund said he believes that the effort was rewarding.

"It's been a huge success on all levels," he said. "We've made some elderly people happy and it was also a good way to bring the fraternity brothers together."

Julia Diggs, the Mercy-Douglass/Shepard Senior Center director, also said she thought the event was a success.

"The seniors have had nothing but compliments since they got here," Diggs said. "They were greeted very well and catered to in every way. It's been just smiles and laughter this afternoon, which is what Thanksgiving is really about."

Sigma Pi, whose last community service activity was the Wing Bowl, has been in existence on Penn's campus for a year and its members said that they are hoping to make the senior citizen Thanksgiving lunch a yearly activity.

"It would be great to make this an annual tradition," Olund said.

"We're hoping that out of this afternoon we can continue this relationship and partnership with the fraternity," Diggs added. "This gives the seniors an opportunity to come together with younger people.

"A lot of times seniors feel unwanted among younger people, so it's good when younger people want to do something special for them."

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