In a divisive time where our country is enduring much pain, it continues to exhibit hope. Just as the #icebucketchallenge spread cross-country this past summer to spread awareness about ALS, SigEps across southern California have taken on the task to #seejeffreylive.

Jeffrey Sirilla, Cal State-San Bernardino ’10, was born with one kidney and the other at 30 percent. During his time as an undergraduate, it was always a defining characteristic. 

“Jeff was the brother who took the younger guys under his wing,” said chapter brother Andrew Camp, ’10. “Even though he struggled with his kidney, he was the guy who supported everyone.”

Things improved in 2006 when Jeff received a kidney transplant. However, only six years later, his kidney started to fail again and he didn’t know what to do. 

“I had to work my entire life around getting my blood cleaned every day,” he said. “Every move I made, I began having to plan it all around dialysis.”

Because of his erratic dialysis schedule, Jeff has found keeping financial stability difficult. Things worsened when he tried to get back on the donor list and they told him it wouldn’t happen. In order to get back a second time, he would need to show he could pay for it—a cost that totaled around $18,000.

“My family tried helping out, but there’s only so much they could do,” Jeff said. “I went on to [gofundme] this summer and gave it a shot. I saw a guy get $40,000 for a potato salad, so I thought, ‘Maybe folks will want to save a life.’”

During the same time Jeff began making his gofundme page, California Upsilon was hosting its 25th anniversary in Las Vegas—the same city Jeff lives in. Kyoung Kong, Cal State-San Bernardino ’15, heard about the situation and his mind started running. How can chapter help out?

“I realized that we have 50+ people in chapter and that we needed to do something,” Kong said, “We started brainstorming possibilities, and that’s when the Ultimate Frisbee idea clicked in.”

So last month, Kong and Cal Upsilon partnered with other sororities and fraternities to host an Ultimate Frisbee competition, with all funds going to the gofundme page. 

So far, they’ve raised $10,000 for their brother.

“Younger guys in chapter have asked, ‘Who’s Jeff Sirilla?’ and I tell them, ‘It doesn’t matter,” Kong said. “Once you go through Epsilon, you just know. He’s a brother—we’ll do anything to help him out.’”

“It’s made me re-realize my love for SigEp,” Jeff stated. “When I needed my brothers, even these new kids I’ve never met, they’ve been here.”

California Upsilon’s AVC has been incredibly active as well. Josh Paine, 12, Cal Upsilon’s current AVC president, noted that this is a new trend.

“When we joined back in 2010, it was always understood that we had a ton of alums, but only a few of them were active,” Paine said. “This has been the singular event to bring us back together. You always hear it’s a brotherhood for life, and now I’m witnessing it.”

In September, California Upsilon’s AVC hosted a “Tacos and Softball” event to try to bring the total dollars raised to $18,000, and many alumni took to using the #icebucketchallenge to help raise awareness for Jeff’s cause. 

“It shows me so much about that oath we took towards each other.” Jeff said, “I’m honestly speechless … I’m speechless.” 

To learn more about how brothers and friends can support Jeffrey, please visit www.gofundme.com/c2h81g.