Sorority wants to give back to CDS staff who made them feel at home

A UNC sorority is planning a thank-you dinner for a small number of Carolina Dining Services employees. Organized by the Phi Chapter of Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc., the dinner will take place on March 25 at The End Zone above Rams Head Dining Hall.

Senior Selina Lopez, a member of Lambda Pi Chi, is the dinner’s principal organizer. Lopez, who is a psychology and Hispanic literature and culture major, said her motivation stems from her personal connection with the CDS staff.

“Some of the CDS workers have been instrumental in making my Carolina experience very welcoming and almost feel like home,” she said.

The workers invited are those that have played a special role in the lives of the members and their close friends. 

Senior Jacqueline López, another member helping to plan the dinner, said she has also felt welcomed at UNC by the CDS staff. 

“It was (Selina Lopez's) idea and I gladly decided to help her plan it because I also feel very strongly about the CDS workers and all the hard work that they do and how they go out of their way to help us and treat us well,” López said.

The sorority is currently accepting donations through a crowdfunding website for the dinner. They’ve set the goal at $400 and are currently at $250. Their chapter advisor Brian Hogan, Faculty Academic Coordinator of the Carolina Covenant, said Carolina Covenant will match every donation toward this event.

“We chose to pair up or to join up with the efforts of Selina and her sorority because we felt it was a great way to give directly back to the community that literally serves not just our students in the covenant but all students on campus — it’s a way of saying thank you, not just from us, the Carolina Covenant, but also all the students from Carolina," Hogan said. 

The two seniors said they remember many different times CDS employees made them feel at home — whether it was going to get them lemons so they could craft a cultural home remedy, or always making sure they had a cup of coffee on their way out of Lenoir Dining Hall.

“We’re hosting essentially a dinner for a small number of CDS workers in which we will actually be making food for them and serving it to them, instead of the other way around, because we’re always going to the dining hall and they are serving us so we kind of wanted to switch roles as a way to show our appreciation,” López said.

When they approached CDS management about the idea, the initial thought was for the dinner to be for every CDS employee, but management said that would be 400 people. Since the members of Lambda Pi Chi wanted to ensure a quality meal for the workers, they opted instead for a small-scale dinner.

“We made a list of workers who we know personally and we also reached out to our hermanas and asked them ‘Who do you personally know and who do you want to see at this dinner,’” López said.

The members of Lambda Pi Chi are in the process of planning an event for all employees in addition to the more intimate dinner.

“They told us about the CDS appreciation day which will be in April, so we’re also going to do something for that to encompass all the workers,” López said.

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