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Epsilon Sigma Alpha, GW’s community service sorority, hosted their first fall charity walk Sunday as part of their philanthropy initiative at St. Jude’s Hospital.
The fundraiser, which hosted sisters of ESA in addition to other student organizations, sought to raise funds for cancer research and raise awareness for the cause on campus. More than 50 students and GW community members turned out for the walk.
“Hopefully [the walk] will become an annual thing,” said Hope Tenenbaum, president of ESA.
The event kicked off in University Yard with live music from GW band TNTrio, who won ESA’s Battle of the Bands fundraiser last spring.
Also present at the event was cancer survivor Rachel Love, 25, who lived through a neuroblastic tumor as a child.
“I’m proud to be a cancer survivor,” Love said to the crowd. “I feel honored. I realized if I hadn’t survived, I wouldn’t be making the efforts to fundraise.”
Love’s father, Bill, who currently works with St. Jude’s Hospital to fundraise in local communities, was also at the event.
“It’s an important thing for folks to pay attention to the powerful effect your group can have in charity,” he said. “Rachel was 22 months [when they found the tumor]. They said there was a 5 percent survival rate in 2 years. With all the research that’s been done, it’s become 55 percent.”
The walking portion of the event was a brief outline of campus, starting from University Yard toward F Street, then circling past Townhouse Row and H Street, back to University Yard.
“I wanted to support ESA,” said Amy Brickman, a sophomore in Alpha Phi Omega, GW’s co-ed community service fraternity, who attended the event. “I think it’s important for the GW community to do things together. There’s not a lot of unity within student orgs.”
“It’s a beautiful day, and it’s good that GW is fortunate enough to do stuff for other less fortunate,” Brickman added.