Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity will be lending their assistance to the residents of Ashmore Friday evening.

The fraternity will be bowling with the children of the community at 6:30 p.m. at EIU Lanes in the Martin Luther King, Jr. University Union.

Lamarcus Cotton, the service chair of Alpha Phi Alpha, said the organization has been assisting children of Ashmore for two years now, and this is the first time the children will be visiting the campus.

He said they usually would play dodge ball, basketball and help them with any homework they may have, but this time they chose bowling.

Cotton said the children enjoy being around the men in the fraternity, and they teach the children about college and what it’s like to be in higher education.

Members of the organization will also teach them about the college application process.

Many of the children seldom come into contact with African-Americans, and he said this is also another way of sharing their culture with the children.

“(We’re) not what the media tries to categorize us as,” Cotton said.

Cotton said their organization is also assisting the university on their annual “EIU Makes a Difference” day Saturday afternoon.

He said the men would be heading to Standing Stone Community Center, which is a non-profit ministry that accepts food, clothing items and basic necessities.

“We feel like we’re doing our community a great service,” Cotton said.

The organization hopes to be seen more than an average fraternity by doing these community service events.

Cotton said helping the community is one of the key components to their organization as it is in their motto.

“What good are we doing if we’re not helping our community,” Cotton said.

Roberto Hodge can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].