Today Kappa Alpha Order will host its first philanthropic event since its return to campus as members will be selling “Hot Dogs for Heroes” in the Brickyard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Matt Korff, a sophomore in business administration, said KA chose to hold this event for many reasons, one being its strong connection with the armed forces.

“KA has strong ties to the military so we feel honored to donate the proceeds to veterans,” he said.  “We have an agreement with some military schools that, when they graduate, we offer them bids and initiate them right away. We do this because it is illegal for soldiers to be in a fraternal organization.”

Stephen Kouba, a junior in political science and vice president of KA, said the chapter decided to host the hot dog lunch as the fraternity’s first philanthropic event for many reasons.

 ”We recently received our provisional charter status back a few weeks ago and this seemed very fitting to honor our veterans as our first philanthropy event,” Kouba said. “We want to show our support for veterans and we feel that this is one of the best ways that we can do it. We are humbled and honored by the opportunity to hold this event and we look forward to generating positive support for our veterans and we are excited about the opportunity to give back as much as we can.”

He also said the fraternity has several  members who are a part of the armed forces.

“We have members of our fraternity that have served in the armed forces but that is not the sole reason that we are holding this event,” he said. “It is important to raise awareness and support for our veterans and there is not a better day to do it than Veterans day.”

Korff said KA has an appreciation so deep they plan to hold this event every year in honor of the veterans.

“KA appreciates the work the veterans have put in to protect us from harm. The respect we have for veterans is tremendous,” Korff said. “We want everyone, not only students, to know that KA supports our veterans. We plan to do this event every year in honor of them.”

The money raised will go to the Wounded Warriors Project as well as Honor Flight.

According to Kouba, the mission of the Wounded Warriors Project is to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women. Honor Flight  takes veterans to visit their respective memorials in Washington, D.C. They also take any veterans, giving special consideration to veterans that have some kind of terminal illness, to visit the memorial erected in their honor.

Tyler Reber, a sophomore in parks, recreation and management, said the group has moderate expectations for the lunches, but that it also has high hopes for its success.

“We’re hoping for a good turnout, but we really hope we sell out of hot dogs,” Reber said.