University of New Haven Greek organization Delta Phi Epsilon hosted their “Be the Change” campaign event on Thursday, Feb. 8. The campaign, coordinated by Kassie Winchester, a sorority member, aimed to raise awareness for the sorority’s philanthropy associated with the African Impact Foundation.

Participating in several projects across Africa, the foundation provides aid in conservation efforts, as well as empowers local communities, provides food, and supports the education of children, especially young women.

Winchester said girls in developing African countries don’t have sufficient educational opportunities. She said 400 million students don’t even have desks or school supplies, and the illiteracy rates are highest among women.

After showing a video of various classrooms around the world at the event, Winchester asked the audience to say a few words about some of the things they noticed in the video.

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“You could tell that different places in the world have more than others,” said junior Victoria Fedak. “Certain classrooms were outside and other ones were actually in buildings with desks and chairs.”

Delta Phi Epsilon asked attendees to donate school supplies, and spare change, and to consider purchasing a t-shirt. All supplies and proceeds from the event will be used to help build and supply a school in Zambia. At $17,000, the school would include two classrooms for children from first to seventh grade.

“When we elected our new ‘Be the Change’ coordinator, [Winchester] wanted to take it in a different direction and do education instead of the different medical philanthropies that we’ve usually done,” said junior Carley Grife.

Grife said that when the chapter voted on working to improve educational opportunities in developing nations, and Winchester picked the African Impact Foundation as their philanthropy.

To raise money for their philanthropy, Delta Phi Epsilon will sell t-shirts for a few more weeks, and will collect school supplies until the end of March.

The sorority’s event is held once a semester.