The Alpha Upsilon Chapter at the University of Mississippi presented injured Army Veteran, Alton “Ray” MacBain, with an all-terrain trackchair at the Ole Miss vs South Carolina football game on Saturday, November 14, 2020.
MacBain served 23 years in the United States Army, where his exposure to oil fields and burn pits resulted in diminished lung capacity. The Order’s longstanding value for giving back to the community inspired their commitment to join together in support of American heroes through The Independence Fund, an organization dedicated to supporting our nation’s most severely wounded, injured or ill Veterans, their Caregivers and their families.
The chapter fundraised more than $40,000 for The Independence Fund through multiple avenues.
“We used crowd sourced fundraising to get a majority of our philanthropic contributions, but we also held a BBQ Cookout to raise money as well!” philanthropy chair Jake Jones (Alpha Upsilon–Mississippi ’17) said. “We ended up raising a little over $40,000 in total which funded the chair and we used the leftovers as a contribution to the Independence Fund’s COVID-19 veteran relief program.”
The Independence Fund provides the resources and tools that enable Veteran families to regain their independence and fight for their ability to sustain it. Their Mobility program provides catastrophically wounded Veterans the chance to regain their independence through the use of all-terrain trackchairs.
Chief Programs Officer of The Independence Fund, Sam Johnson, members of the Alpha Upsilon Chapter, and MacBain will attend a meet and greet, then enjoy the football game as a group, presenting the all-terrain trackchair during halftime of the Ole Miss football game.
