By Tiffany Pelt
Texas State News Intern

    At Texas State University, several fraternities and sororities were founded on the basic principle of service, a desire to give back to those who deserve that little extra help from time to time.
    Omega Delta Phi, a fraternity at Texas State, was first founded at Texas Tech in 1987. Brought to Texas State in November of 1997 as strictly a Hispanic fraternity, Omega Delta Phi opened its doors and allowed all ethnicities to enter, making it a multicultural service organization.
    This fairly new fraternity, who has been at Texas State for nine years, has done much to making its name known around campus and the community.
ODPhi has had the top fraternity grade point average for the last two consecutive semesters and were the Greek champions for flag football. However, it is in the community where they make their biggest contributions.
    As recorded in one year, from April 2005 to April 2006, ODPhi reported 1,068 service hours from its membership. 
    For the past four years, ODPhi has volunteered monthly with the San Marcos Housing Authority by raking leaves and cleaning up the properties. However, this is not what puts a smile on the fraternity brothers’ face. While   there, they also provide food and toys, plan special events like Easter egg hunts, and play games with all the children.
    Another service event the brothers participate regularly in is a river clean up. 
    Working with the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department, ODPhi adopted their own section of the San Marcos River.
    Each month they load up with gloves and trash bags and make their way to the river to ensure that the community members have a safe and clean river to enjoy.
    From river clean-ups to planning activities with local children, ODPhi is dedicated to the needs and concerns of the San Marcos community as they volunteer to make the neighborhoods a cleaner and happier place to live.