The theme of this year’s Greek Week, “One Mission, One Community, One Greek Week,” demonstrates the event’s goal of unity within Greek life.

Greek Week includes a wide variety of events to raise money for beneficiaries in the Columbia area. The annual blood drive ends today. Also, the annual Greek Week Fling and various service events collect funds to be split evenly between each of the beneficiaries. Fling is scheduled for April 15-17.

The steering committee chose 15 organizations as beneficiaries this year. Director of Beneficiaries Austin Ratzki said the Greek Week Steering Committee received about 45 applications and had to narrow the beneficiaries down from there.

Ratzki said the committee sends out the beneficiary application online on the Greek Week website and researches past beneficiaries.

Greek Week spokeswoman Kathryn Jankowski said Greek Week committee members look for a wide range of causes when choosing the beneficiaries.

“We look for a variety of things in our beneficiaries to have a good mix of places that work with animals, children, physical health and mental health, even children whose parents are sick,” Jankowski said. “So it’s a wide variety of things.”

This year, nine new beneficiaries were chosen. Six organizations from last year will also receive the support of Greek Week.

**Camp Kesem**

One new beneficiary this year is Camp Kesem. Camp Kesem is a national organization that hosts a free weeklong summer camp for kids whose parents have or had cancer. According to its website, the Missouri branch is “envisioned, developed and organized by students at the University of Missouri-Columbia.”

“Our mission is to provide children whose parent has suffered by cancer with year-round support, including a free summer camp,” Camp Kesem Alumni Spokesman Adam Ryan said.

Ryan said the camp needs about $500 per child for the week of camp. He said that Greek Week funds could pay for 18-20 kids to attend the camp this summer.

“We are using the funds directly from Greek Week to pay for the camp in August,” Ryan said.

Ryan also said the organization is openly looking for campers and donations. For more information, he encourages people who are interested to visit campkesem.org/missouri.

**Jumpstart**

Another beneficiary new to Greek Week this year is Jumpstart. Jumpstart is a part of the MU Career Center, and the program helps preschool children prepare for kindergarten. According to its website, Jumpstart employs more than 100 MU students to serve at-risk children in the community.
 
Senior Site Manager Chrissie Bennett said Jumpstart is an early childhood supplemental program that focuses on enhancing children’s language and literacy skills. She said a student in the organization made Jumpstart aware of the Greek Week beneficiary program.
 
Bennett said she hopes the funds will cover the organization’s “Reading Rocks” book bag program for children.
 
“Our goal (with Reading Rocks) is to provide an entire library of high quality children’s books for the at-risk children we serve,” Bennett said.
 
Bennett said many children do not have access to books at home and the funds from Greek Week will allow Jumpstart to purchase children’s books that children may keep.
 
Jumpstart is also hosting an event this weekend called “Creation Day.” The event will bring Greek Week volunteers together to create teaching materials that the organization will use with children for Jumpstart tutoring that occurs in public and community preschools.

Members of the Greek Week Steering Committee said they want to sponsor events and beneficiaries that students will want to continue working with after Greek Week is over.

“We want to make (Greek Week) something people really want to do that is also a good cause,” Ratzki said.