On Saturday, April 12, the Chattanooga Area Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter (CAC) along with brothers from the Delta Theta Chapter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosted an Easter event for children at Jefferson Park.

Several dozen children from Centerstone and the Maclellan Shelter for Families, who are wards of the state, received an Easter basket, enjoyed a spirited Easter egg hunt, and sack races, before being treated to a pizza lunch.

“We wanted to give these children an opportunity to experience the outdoors, get out in the park and enjoy themselves,” said Bill Hawkins, President of the alumni organization that secured its non-profit status in 2019.

Hawkins said Centerstone and Maclellan are organizations that provide outstanding services to children in need. The CAC wants to help them to give a “hand up” to children in crisis.

Jocelyn Stodghill with Cornerstone, said her organization deals with between 45 and 100 foster children across the region. She said the men of Sigma Chi has sponsored a Christmas event for these children for two years and she hopes the Easter event will become a tradition.

Monica Gilbert, Program Manager for Centerstone, said “it was the best event ever! They did an awesome job.”

For the last decade, the CAC has generously given back to the community and the university. The organization, along with the active chapter, has purchased and donated thousands of Christmas gifts to the East Ridge Needy Child Fund, Centerstone and other charitable organizations.

In addition, the CAC holds a yearly golf tournament and periodic silent auctions that have raised tens-of-thousands of dollars which it has generously funneled into several scholarship funds at UTC to the tune of $85,000. Through the years, the CAC has also contributed financially to the Chattanooga Food Bank ($17,000), Erlanger Children’s Hospital ($25,000), the Community Kitchen ($7,500) and Orange Grove ($2,500).