Daily Skiff

Carrying on the tradition of using their talents to give back to the community, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma teamed up to play a benefit concert for the family of a sick child in Birdville this month.

The concert was the culmination of a week-long fundraising campaign to benefit Angel, the 3-year-old son of Francisco Menjivar, a janitor at Birdville High School.

Angel was born with an esophageal hernia that required an operation to repair. The surgery, completed in November, was successful, but left the family with a financial hardship.

Kelsey Plunk, president of the Birdville High Student Council, said she was inspired to begin the event on her campus after participating in similar events at her previous high school.

"The last one I did, we sponsored a little boy with sickle cell anemia and were able to grant his dying wish through the Make-a-Wish Foundation," Plunk said. "We helped send him to the Pro-Bowl in Hawaii."

Plunk said that because a lot of people at her high school look up to the university, she felt inviting members of the band would really get the community excited.

Melanie Camp, president of Tau Beta Sigma, was contacted by Birdville High School. Camp said she immediately agreed to help and enlisted their brother band-service fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi to pitch in as well.

"Our organization is all about community service and music, and we are always looking for service opportunities," Camp said. "It was also a great opportunity to get our name out there to local high school students as an example of how musicians can serve the community."

The week-long campaign included a "messy pep rally" where students had relay races with smelly items like dead fish and played "messy Twister" where several Twister boards were set up and embellished with things like mustard on the yellow dots and ketchup on the red dots.

The students also hosted a "battle of the bands" and a Mr. BHS pageant before the Friday evening wrap-up party where members of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma performed TCU basketball band songs for the crowd.

The student council was able to present Angel and his father with a check for more than $2,000.

Scott Sidway, president of Kappa Kappa Psi, said his fraternity jumped at the opportunity to play at the wrap-up event because its mission goes beyond serving the band and also seeks to serve the community.

"The common denominator we all share is music," Sidway said. "If we are able to do what we love and spread that into the community to help others, I think we all really feel like it's a great way to utilize our talents."

Plunk said the events were a smashing success and that Angel is fully recovered from surgery and doing well.

"He's just like a normal, happy, bouncing little boy," she said.

The event was pulled off with the help of several different organizations in the Metroplex, and Plunk said she was really excited to see the way everyone came together at the wrap-up party.

"It was the perfect ending for the week, we really had a lot of fun, and we will definitely be doing this next year," she said. "It's already on the calendar."

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