As bitter cold temperatures continue to keep Hoosiers indoors, Wabash’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) is encouraging the Wabash community to address food security, a key determinant of health, in Montgomery County this February.

Fraternity and independent men, faculty and staff can sign up to volunteer at three local charities that focus on food security: Meals on Wheels, FISH of Montgomery County and Grace & Mercy Community Food Pantry. Food security is IFC’s philanthropic focal point in February, but it is part of a larger, spring campaign that will dedicate March to tackling youth-related issues and April to environmental concerns in Montgomery County.

Volunteers can choose from a variety of hours at the different charities. Students can count their hours toward the semester-long competition IFC and the Crawfordsville to Campus Committee are holding between housing units and student organizations. The goal is to keep students engaged throughout the entirety of the spring and sustain philanthropy through the end of the academic year.

“We see participation fall off because most houses have service requirements for guys of a certain number of hours, and sometimes, once they hit those targets, they stop,” said IFC President, Kyle Foster ’27. “So, the goal is to push past those service requirements and engage with the community even more.”

Spearheading IFC’s efforts are philanthropy co-chairs Jonathan Parackattu ’28 and Julio Cruz-Romero ’28. Both are passionate about working with communities, and they have significant experience doing so. Parackattu serves as the President of the Public Health Organization, one of the largest clubs on campus, and Cruz-Romero serves as the philanthropy chair of his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. Both have also worked with communities internationally through internships with Wabash’s Global Health Initiative, experiences that took them to Peru. They drew on these experiences when they identified food security, a basic building block of community health, as a priority for this spring.

“Food insecurity isn’t just ‘not having enough food,’” said Cruz-Romero, in an email announcing February’s theme. “It’s families having to choose between groceries and rent, gas or medical bills. And it’s happening right here in Montgomery County.”

The need is high, especially in a time when grocery prices are outpacing wages. Consumers still have to worry about paying their rent and utilities too, especially during the frigid winter months. To many in the Wabash community who have the privilege of staying well-fed throughout the year, such pressures may seem foreign. The truth? Food insecurity is right on our doorsteps.

“40% of Montgomery County residents fall just above or at the federal poverty level,” said Parackattu. “Just from that angle — monetarily — there’s a huge need.”

Food pantries step into the gap to fill food needs and aid the community. IFC chose to work with three of the biggest pantries in the county in order to create the largest impact. The groups they chose to work with feed thousands of people in Montgomery County. Meals on Wheels feeds around 60 homebound seniors every week. Grace & Mercy Community Food Pantry fed some 20,000 people in 2025, and, on average, currently feed 300 people per week. FISH of Montgomery County fed 163 families during the second week of January. The lion share of what these organizations need from volunteers is sorting, packing, stacking and unloading food. Hard work, in other words, but work Parackattu believes is essential for Wabash students.

“From the federal to the local level, being a good citizen should involve giving back to your community,” said Parackattu. “I think that’s your responsibility as someone living here, as someone using Wabash’s campus resources. We’re kind of guests in Crawfordsville, and you should give back because they’re basically housing you and giving you community.”

IFC does not want to focus solely on what the Wabash community can do for Montgomery County, though. They are cognizant of how the greater Crawfordsville community will aid Wabash, especially its students.

“Our priority was to encourage not only brothers from fraternities, but for the campus as a whole to be engaged more in the community,” said Cruz-Romero. “Because it’s not necessarily just about helping them, but also working with them. The Wabash community can learn from the Crawfordsville community.”

With goals of sustaining philanthropy throughout the spring semester, the IFC is looking to start with a strong February. Even more than a strong showing this spring, however, the hope is that the next three months will plant a philanthropic seed in many people.

“I hope that at least a few of the Wabash community members feel the need to help for the rest of their four years, or their career, at Wabash,” said Cruz-Romero.