TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Greek Links of The University of Alabama will host a kickoff for its third annual fund-raising campaign on Monday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Plaza.

This campaign, supported by the University’s fraternities and sororities, will once again raise money for Kid One Transport System, as well as a number of other charities.

Last year, the UA students participating in Greek Links donated $45,000 to Kid One. The group sponsored a golf tournament March as its primary fund-raiser.

Russell Jackson, the former Hoover firefighter who founded Kid One in 1997, will be in attendance to thank the students for their philanthropic efforts. UA President Robert E. Witt and Dr. Kathleen Cramer, interim vice president of student affairs, will also be at the event.

The Greek Links campaign has been successful in the past, and it now supports several charities, in addition to Kid One. At the kickoff, various Greek chapters will be presented with checks to go toward their individual philanthropy projects.

The annual support that is raised through the Greek Links campaign is especially important now that the University has partnered with Kid One to help fund the expansion of that group’s services in West Alabama. That partnership was announced in April 2003, when the University agreed to assist in raising funds to match a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Kid One Transport System was founded in 1997 to assist the thousands of Alabama children diagnosed with various illnesses, some life-threatening, who were forced to forego medical care simply because their families had little to no means of transportation. Since that time, Kid One has provided rides to and from medical care for more than 4,000 children and expectant mothers. Kid One serves 27 Alabama counties; however, most of its services are in the Birmingham area. The new funding will allow Kid One to greatly increase its services in West Alabama, including Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties.