Alpha Lambda's Amazing Philanthropy Chair

Alpha Lambda's Amazing Philanthropy Chair

Post by: Erin Knight          
   
   No child should die in the dawn of life. No family ever receives a bill. We won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. These are things that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital believes in to the fullest. These are also mantras that Delta Delta Delta supports with its philanthropic efforts. In 1999, Tri Delta Panhellenic sorority partnered with St. Jude as their official philanthropy. Since then, over 55 million dollars has been raised by Tri Delta chapters across the nation through charity events such as 5K Walk/Runs, donations, and fundraising campaigns. Each dollar donated goes towards cancer
treatment, care during remission and research.
           
    At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a child receives exemplary care as well as housing for their families, and they never have to pay a penny. Since its founding in 1962, St. Jude has helped to increase the childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80%, accrediting much of this success to treatments discovered at the research hospital within the last five years. Delta Delta Delta began its support of St. Jude decades ago prior to making their partnership official in 1999. Additionally, Delta Delta Delta has set a goal of raising 60 million in ten years to go towards the dream of eradicating childhood cancer. To date, the sorority has raised $55 million. Being a part of this organization and contributing to the cause is something every Delta Delta Delta member cherishes. Senior member Nicole McGlinchy says, “Being able to share such a strong passion for St. Jude with 400 other girls is something you can’t begin to describe and I am so thankful to be a part of the endless amount of miracles that St. Jude has given to numerous families.”

   Philanthropy Chair at the University of South Carolina Alpha Lambda Chapter, Madison Hoover, dedicates numerous hours to ensure the continued success of St. Jude. As philanthropy chair, Madison is responsible for the philanthropic efforts of the chapter’s 382 active members. She corresponds with St. Jude representatives to plan events and raise awareness. USC’s most popular St. Jude event is the Delta Delta Delta Gameday in which members sell tickets for the event and all proceeds go to St. Jude. Sponsors and donors contribute food, entertainment and raffle items for the day of the event. Attendees enjoy an afternoon of socializing while SEC football games are broadcasted on screens for viewing. Families and former patients of St. Jude come to the event and speak to the attendees about what the research hospital means to them and how fundraising and public support helps them along their survival journey. These personal statements have a profound impact on the attendees and current members of Delta Delta Delta. Junior member Grace Perry, says being a part of something bigger than herself has changed her outlook on life and motivated her to support always be a St. Jude supporter. The chapter takes one to two trips annually to visit the research center in Memphis, Tennessee where there is a wing dedicated to and donated by Delta Delta Delta. There, members of the chapter have the opportunity to meet and interact with patients, tour the facilities and see first hand what their time and money is supporting.

Members enjoying Tri Delta Game Day 2017

   









        As philanthropy chair, Madison organizes and executes these events and looks forward to continual improvement with St. Jude saying, “I hope the partnership continues to grow and that the amount raised each year continues to grow as well.” Within Delta Delta Delta, each position is slated, meaning that candidates are nominated by their peers and a pro-con list is established by the members to evaluate their capabilities of holding each position. Madison was nominated to be philanthropy chair and said she was so surprised and honored that she started to cry when she was successfully slated and inducted. Madison says, “The most rewarding part of being philanthropy chair is absolutely raising money for the hospital. Being philanthropy chair is very time consuming but at the end of the day, putting on the events that raise $100,000 annually for the hospital makes it all worth it. It’s also very rewarding to visit the hospital because you get to see where the money that we raise is going first hand, rather than just through videos and pictures.” Her favorite part of visiting the hospital was getting to see the amazing space that Delta Delta Delta is able to provide to the families. “It truly is a state of the art facility; everything is very nice and new. The patients and their families only deserve the absolute best with what they are going through. It’s amazing that Delta Delta Delta can provide them a five-star place to lay their head at night” said Hoover. When asked about the personal impact of the visit Madison said, “For me going to St. Jude has put everything in to perspective. It’s a very humbling experience. Each time I’ve gone, I also feel an immense pride in being a Delta Delta Delta member too.” This position requires numerous hours of commitment which Madison notes as being the most surprising and hardest part of the job saying, “I really don’t think I’ve ever invested so much time into something, so it was a big change to have that position and be a full-time student as well.”

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital located in Memphis, Tennessee

   Looking towards the future Madison, as well as members of the Alpha Lambda chapter of Delta Delta Delta, feel that the St. Jude relationship will be long lasting and fruitful. In just 3 years the organization as a whole has raised $27 million. Delta Delta Delta fully appreciates and recognizes the countless hours of dedication that Madison and all philanthropy chairs dedicate to the continuing partnership with St. Jude. The cure for childhood cancer is something that all Delta Delta Delta members wish for. This dream is what drives the determination of all chapters across the nation to bond together in an attempt to raise awareness and funding.

 The Alpha Lambda chapter of Delta Delta Delta would like to personally thank all donors and contributors to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital cause. Each and every dollar donated helps a child and their family in their time of need by providing treatment and housing, giving them piece of mind and allowing them to focus on the needs and care of those affected by childhood cancer. When asked what Madison would want the public to know about Delta Delta Delta and St. Jude she joyfully commented, “I would want them to know that you won’t meet a Tri Delta who does not have a special place in their heart for St Jude. After three years, I can confidentially say that St Jude will always be very important to me and that I will absolutely be a life time donor!”



       If you feel compelled to do so, here is a link to donate to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in our chapter’s name:  St. Jude Donations

Love Your Body Week

With Spring Break coming up next week, girls start to worry and become self- conscious about their bodies. Since Tri Delta is involved with a Body Image 3D program, this is the perfect time to have a “Love Your Body Week” for the whole chapter! The purpose of this week is to teach the members to love their bodies while also being healthy along side of our sisters. 

The chefs helped out with making an awesome menu for this week featuring multiple super healthy meals. Some of the favorites have been the grilled chicken kabobs and greek salad, the salmon, and the avocado toast. 

Open Chapter Monday night also went along with the “Love Your Body Week” theme. It started off with an activity where three girls from each pledge class were asked to stand in front of a blank white poster while closing their eyes. The other members of the chapter wrote nice things about them around where they were standing. After 15 minutes, the girls standing around the posters were asked to turn around and look at the nice things their sisters wrote about them. It was a cute and positive way to kick off chapter! 

After the activity, Larsyn Cross, a nutrition and body wellness expert, spoke to the chapter about loving your body. She told her story about how she had to learn to love herself after getting skin cancer when she was only a junior in college. She learned to except her scars from the surgery and decided to embrace her uniqueness because it is what set her apart from other people. She emphasized that we must embrace our bodies because we are each fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Her six tips on how to stay body positive in college are:

1.      Wear what you want to wear (not what you think you are supposed to wear).

2.      Don’t delete “ugly” pictures of yourself and say affirmations in the mirror daily. 

3.      Create meaningful relationships

4.      Stop comparing (comparison is the thief of joy)

5.      Feed your mind and soul

6.      Do it for yourself and no one else 

a.       Eat healthy foods (learn to cook), drink water, exercise daily and get adequate sleep

Larsyn’s talk was amazing and was a great way to start off the week. She left everyone feeling more confident and with some great tips on how to love your body!

On Tuesday and Thursday, there are a social media challenges for Love Your Body Week. Members are posting pictures on Instagram to show why and how they love their bodies using the hashtags #lΔΔΔveyourbody and #bodyimage3d. 

On Wednesday, there is an activity from 6-8pm at the Tri Delta house where girls are drawing body positive quotes and sayings on posters and sticky notes. Members are hanging them around the Tri Delta house and campus to spread the message of loving your body!

We have really enjoyed our "Love Your Body Week" and look forward to always staying body positive and loving ourselves. Thanks to Kendall, our Body Image Coordinator for planning such an uplifting and fun week! 

Team Tri Delta at Dance Marathon!

On Saturday, February 25, a group of our sisters joined over 1,200 other students and danced together for 14 hours with USC Dance Marathon to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. USC Dance Marathon is the largest student-run philanthropic organization on campus. These students are able to help children right here in Columbia by fundraising for the Child Life Program at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. This year, as a whole USCDM raised $703,289 surpassing their $700,000 goal. As a team, our girls raised $6,704.42 for the kids!

The main event began at 10 a.m. and went until 12 a.m, and during this time, there was no sitting or sleeping. The participants danced in support of the patients, some of which they got to meet during the event! They also heard many different Miracle family testimonies, which encouraged the participants to keep on dancing, even when it seemed impossible. 

                 

 

 

“I got involved last year with the encouragement of another Tri Delta Member, Kimmie Gower. I didn’t really know what I was getting into at first. It was not until I met a Miracle kid named Benjamin that I realized how important this event was. It makes you want to work harder and do whatever you can do to help these children and their families,” said Junior Emily Morgan.

Both Emily and Sophomore Julia Derry are members of the Dance Marathon Morale Team. They spent countless hours preparing for the event and ensuring its success. During the main event Emily and Julia motivated our team to keep going and keep fundraising.

Some of our members got to meet a fellow Tri Delta from Elon at the main event on Saturday. After bonding over sisterhood, she then proceeded to get on the stage and tell about how she was a miracle child who had a 10% chance of survival when she was 8 years old. What a special story to share and a testimony to living out your purpose!

We could not be more proud of the Tri Deltas who were so dedicated to helping an amazing cause. An event like this brings the student body together to better the lives of children and families everywhere, and we could not be happier to have the opportunity to participate while strengthening the bonds of friendship between our chapter. 

“Being able to bond with sisters from my pledge class was one of the best parts of fundraising and dancing as a Tri Delta team member!” said freshman, Mckenna Vergnolle. Being able to spend time with sisters and raising money for a good cause? How could it get any better!

Sophomore Makenna Rose also really enjoyed being a part of this event. “Hearing all of the miracle stories and then seeing the looks on everyone’s faces when we exceeded our goal was one of the best parts of the event; the pure joy that overwhelmed the room, knowing that dancing for 14 hours wasn’t just dancing but knowing that it truly was making a difference and that everyone there cared and made these children their priority for all day... that was the best,” said Makenna.

We can’t thank our team members enough, and we look forward to raising even more money next year! 

$131,132 for St. Jude!

During 2016, we worked so hard as a chapter to raise the money for St. Jude. In the end, we ended up being one of the top 5 Tri Delta fundraising chapters in the nation!! We are so honored and humbled, and we could not have done it without all of YOU! With your help, we raised $131,132!!!

To wrap up our fundraising year, we wanted to share with yall how we accomplished this incredible number as a chapter.

The 2016 year started out with our annual Sincerely Yours letter writing campaign. Members of Tri Delta were able to send letters and donation forms to their closest friends and families asking for donations and spreading the word about St. Jude. This event set a record breaking number for fundraising by raising $92,000, about $10,000 more than our chapter typically raises! This number made Sincerely Yours our most successful event of the year.

The Spring semester also included our chapter paring with Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for a "White Out Cancer" themed USC basketball game. This event was extremely special to both chapters because a sister to one of the Pike members was actually a patient at St. Jude during that time. The basketball game was paired with online fundraising that raised thousands for St. Jude. Members of Tri Delta and Pike decked out in all white attended the game itself against Tennessee.

At the start of the Fall semester, members of Alpha Lambda traveled down to Charleston, SC for the St. Jude Walk/Run To End Childhood Cancer. This was our chapter's first time participating in the event that will definitely become an annual tradition. Prior to the 5K, members of the chapter raised money through online efforts. Each member had a goal of $150, many of whom raised much more than that.

In November, some of our members got the opportunity to take a road trip to Memphis, Tennessee to visit St. Jude and see where all of our hard work goes. It is so incredible to see what a difference we are making in so many lives and to realize that people recognize the three deltas and all that we contribute to the hospital. We even got to meet Tony Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Danny Thomas's son, during our trip to the gift shop. What a treat for him to thank our chapter for our work!

Our 2016 year ended with our annual Game Day event. Members of the school and community were able to buy a ticket that included food, a live band, raffles, and of course the screening of the Florida vs USC game. It was a great way to bring the Columbia community together to support such a worthy cause.

With 2016 being our most successful fundraising year yet, we can't wait to see what the upcoming 2017 year brings as well. We are looking forward to kicking off our fundraising year with Sincerely Yours. Our goal is to raise $100,000!!!

Follow us at sctridelta on Instagram and Delta Delta Delta at University of South Carolina on Facebook to find out about more that we are doing and why we are so passionate about our philanthropy. We are extremely appreciative to all of those who have supported our efforts to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!

Sister Spotlight: MC Cain and It's On Us

Being in Tri Delta, we have so many members who accomplish amazing goals and are involved in a variety of organizations on campus. We are especially proud of our sister, MC Cain, for all of her hard work and dedication the the organization It's On Us.

During winter break, MC got the opportunity to visit the White House for the It's on Us Summit. Here below, MC shares with our readers some information about It's On Us nationally as well as on USC's campus, her White House experience with the campaign, as well as how you can get involved and learn more about this awesome initiative. 

What is It’s On Us?

It's On Us asks everyone -- men and women across America -- to make a personal commitment to step off the sidelines and be part of the solution to campus sexual assault. 

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“It’s On Us” aims to fundamentally shift the way we think about sexual assault, by inspiring everyone to see it as their responsibility to do something, big or small, to prevent it. The campaign reflects the belief that sexual assault isn’t just an issue involving a crime committed by a perpetrator against a victim, but one in which the rest of us also have a role to play. We are committed to creating an environment - be it a dorm room, a party, a bar or club, or the greater college campus - where sexual assault is unacceptable and the survivors are supported. This movement will support student-led efforts already underway across the country, and will focus particularly on motivating college men to get involved.

My Involvement

In the spring of 2016, Student Body President, Michael Parks, approached my co-director and I about taking charge of the It’s On Us campaign. This is an extremely personal cause to me and I would not be able to be so vocal about this issue without the fabulous support of my family and friends! 

Week of Action at USC

Our first big event on University of South Carolina’s campus with It’s On Us was our “Week of Action”. This was a week full of events, workshops, and awareness of the cause. Here’s a summary of the week:

"University of South Carolina kicked off their It's On Us Week of Action on Monday October 24th with a kickball tournament. There was a great turnout with teams full of athletes, Greek life, Student Government, freshman groups, and many more! Over 150 pledges were signed under the kickball lights Monday night. Tuesday was spent with the on campus group IRIS, Individuals Respecting Identities and Sexualities, discussing sexual assault in the media. Several clips were played and a productive and lively discussion ensued about our overwhelming and powerful media. Wednesday night was a night full of solemn presence and powerful words at the Supporting Survivors Candlelight Vigil. A variety of speakers read the letter Joe Biden wrote to the "Stanford Survivor". These speakers included survivors, parents of survivors, and other powerful leaders amongst our Carolina community. Thursday was an empowering 'kick-ass' afternoon spent with SASS Self-Defense leaders Whitney Pike and Shannon Henry. We rounded out our week on Friday with an exciting University of South Carolina PSA Video release." Our video can be found here.

Trip to the White House

This past Thursday I had the honor to attend the final It's On Us Summit at the White House. This collaborative event was hosted by the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Public Engagement and the White House Council on Women and Girls. The summit brought together 'It's On Us’  supporters from all over including: students, advocates, members from academia, the private sector, government and philanthropic organizations and even Mr. It's On Us himself, Vice President Joe Biden. 

Throughout the day we discussed the immense progress that this campaign has made over the past 2+ years. To illustrate the team’s success, a video was produced by power-house agency, Mekanism, for the It’s On Us campaign. (Watch Video Here)

I want to share with you two of the biggest takeaways from the day:

1. The Future of 'It’s On Us': This has always been and will always be a bi-partisan issue. It was created outside of government control for this purpose. With the upcoming inauguration and new administration, and flurry of negativity surrounding these changes, there is no confusion about the life of 'It's On Us'. This strong, powerful, and crucial campaign will continue to grow and prosper. 'It's On Us' will now be housed through Civic Nation.  
2. What can YOU do?: While we talked a lot about progress at our summit, we still have a long way to go. The statistics still take your breath away. However, all ages, all genders, all stages of life, YOU can have an impact in changing our society. We want to create communities that establish a new baseline for what is socially acceptable. We want to make standing up for a friend “cool”. We want it to be naturally understood that bystanders have just as much responsibility as the attacker to the victim. YOU are an everyday activist. Use your voice and show those around you that it’s “cool” to stand up for victims and survivors of sexual assault. Even the smallest comments or actions have significant and powerful results.  

I can't express how thankful I am to have found 'It's On Us', or actually for 'It's On Us' to have found me! 'It’s On Us' takes the responsibility off the survivor and places it on EVERYONE to be apart of this fight in ending sexual assault. In the words of Joe Biden: “It’s On Us is a public reminder to all survivors, past, present, and future, you will not suffer alone, and we will not stay silent.” My passion continues to grow for this cause and all the lives it continues to touch. 

What can YOU do at University of South Carolina to support It’s On Us?

Get involved! Educate yourself! Be sure to like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/uscitsonus/) and sign up for alerts from our website (www.uscitsonus.com). We are always sharing new information and promoting events and ways to get involved. Because we are such a new group on campus, we are ALWAYS open to new ideas! If you have any ideas, want to talk, want to learn more, or anything else, please email us at uscitsonus@gmail.com!

Exciting News!
I am excited to announce that there will be a Gala in March for It's On Us. Be sure to stay updated on social media and follow us to find out more about the ticket release date! 

It’s On Us Hero Gala

March 30, 2017

7:00-10:00pm

Spirit Communications Stadium

"A night of fundraising and raising awareness for the University of South Carolina & National It’s On Us Campaign."