By Lilia Abecassis, for the Mitzpeh, @Lily_Ayy
For most fraternity boys, “good sorority relations” means getting invited to different formals every semester. For sophomore Zeta Beta Tau brother Daniel Katz, it means having 4 Panhellenic chapters participate in his food drive and donate their chapter house dinner to the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), the largest homeless shelter in Washington, D.C.
Katz, a finance major from Wesley Hills, NY, organized the Greek Food Drive Initiative with the help of the community service chairs from Phi Sigma Sigma, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi and Delta Gamma. Instead of having dinner provided at their chapter house on May 4, the chapters donated the food to the CCNV, providing meals for over 200 people.
But organizing a one-time donation isn’t really what Katz had in mind. In the coming year, he hopes to donate more dinners, as well as work with other organizations on campus to increase the size of donations.
“I plan on working with different Greek chapters to have weekly volunteer sessions at the DC Central Kitchen,” he said. “I also want to team up with Habitat for Humanity and the UMD chapter of the Red Cross.”
Katz’s passion for helping the community doesn’t stop there. For the 2016-2017 school year, Katz will also serve as the co-president of Challah for Hunger and Soup Squad. He’s also an RHA Senator, and is helping ZBT get involved with Ten Man Plan, a sexual assault prevention initiative other Maryland Greek organizations have implemented.
As co-president of Challah for Hunger, which hosts challah braiding every Thursday and then sells the loaves to raise money for DC hunger organizations. Katz wants to broaden the reach of the organization to more than just the Jewish community on campus.
“I also want to get cultural and service groups to volunteer for Challah for Hunger braiding and the Soup Squad.” He said. “I’ve reached out the Catholic [Student] Center, will try working with the Muslim Student Association and will talk to service groups on campus.”
With Soup Squad, Katz is working to have different organizations on campus volunteer to serve and deliver soup during different months.
His passion for helping others hasn’t gone unnoticed either. His peers have commended his efforts and are proud to have him as part of their organizations.
“He has been working tirelessly to ensure that his new community service ventures get off the ground. It is rare to see a college student work so hard on a subject he won’t get graded on,” Sam Koralnik, a brother of ZBT, said of Katz. “He has a true passion for helping those less fortunate than himself.”
When he’s not serving the community, Katz enjoys spending his free time cooking, watching TV, and playing tennis. He loves making new friends and ladies, he’s single.
