ZBT’s Lambda Chapter at The University of Texas at Austin hosted a barbeque to honor and remember their B+ Heroes as well as celebrate the nearly $100,000 raised by Greeks at UT Austin for The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation during the spring 2016 semester on September 18.

Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation

The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation honors the life of 14-year-old, straight-A student and star athlete, Andrew McDonough. Andrew died from complications of Leukemia after a brave 167-day battle. Andrew’s blood type was B+, which was so fitting, as that was the way he lived. Shortly after he passed away his family started The Andrew McDonough B+ in an effort to fight childhood cancer through funding childhood cancer research, assisting families of kids with cancer financially and raising awareness and advocating. We do this, in large part, thanks to college students nationwide.

Zeta Beta Tau has continued to be a great partner on various campuses by hosting fundraising events as well as taking part in our B+ Heroes Program where we match children with cancer with chapters of the fraternity.

UT Austin’s B+ Barbeque Open House

The men at UT Austin opened their home to the Texas B+ family, which included students from the Interfraternity Council, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi, Alpha Epsilon Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma. Each group raised significant funds last year through events on campus and is matched with a B+ Hero.

The ZBT house was the perfect venue for the celebration. The students, B+ heroes (kids with cancer) and their families enjoyed a delicious barbecue, ice pops to cool off on the hot day, a bounce house, games and even a dip in the pool! The men were gracious hosts and truly embraced their fellow students and the kids.

Jeffrey, a boy with incurable brain cancer, who is ZBT’s “little brother,” said it was the best day of his life. The men helped The B+ Foundation honor all of the children there while also remembering a member of their community lost too soon. Five-year-old Lisa Marie died last November after fighting brain cancer for more than half her life. Lisa was Alpha Epsilon Phi’s youngest “sister.”

The barbecue also served as a kickoff to this years fundraising and awareness raising efforts on campus.

The Lambda Chapter brothers also took their Hero, Jeffery, trick-or-treating and out to dinner on Halloween.

Other Chapters Supporting B+

Several other ZBT chapters are involved with B+, including Iota Chapter at the University of Denver, Omicron Chapter at Syracuse University, Eta Omicron at Quinnipiac University, Delta Beta at the University of Connecticut, Beta Pi at California State University-Long Beach, Epsilon Theta at the University of Delaware, Gamma Chapter at New York University, Alpha Mu at the University of Washington, Eta Lambda at Emory University and Psi Chapter at the University of Alabama.

Anyone who is interested in leaving a legacy on his campus and changing the lives of children and their families battling cancer, should contact Carly Bergstein at Carly@BePositive.org to learn how to make a difference!

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