When Olivia Adams was 12 years old, she watched her grandmother succumb to Alzheimer’s. Now a Mississippi State University-Meridian Master of Science in Nursing student, Adams and her cohort sprang into action when a call rang out to help fund a cure for the chronic neurodegenerative disease that causes dementia.

Mississippi State University’s Kappa Sigma Fraternity set university and Southeastern Conference records with the most money raised during a single fraternity or sorority philanthropy event this past month, collecting $556,000 for the Jackson-based Reclaimed Project during the 26th annual Charity Bowl.