It seems like just a few days ago I was writing about the beginnings of cool autumn nights and the changing of the leaves. Now it’s the beginning of November, pumpkins are out and I’ve scraped the first frost off of my windshield.
I don’t know about you fabulous girls, but this semester just seems to be flying by! Where has the time gone?

These last few weeks have been particularly hectic for me as I coordinated a new philanthropy event for my university’s Alpha Sigma Tau sorority chapter. We held a campus-wide Mystery Theater Dinner to raise money for the Global Volunteer Network’s “Eat So They Can” Campaign. All of the proceeds of the event went straight back to GVN, who distributes the internationally raised funds across third-world countries in Africa to help provide food and education for children living in areas like Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Pretty cool cause, huh?

My future career goal is event planning, and I just can’t get over how much experience being involved in my sorority has given me. By the time I graduate I will have coordinated multiple large scale philanthropy events, what a resume builder! Just another reason to Go Greek! Anyway, the event was a huge success and I was thrilled to be able to contribute a large donation to the “Eat So They Can” Campaign in my sorority’s name. Philanthropy is something that is extremely important to me, and one of the characteristics I looked for in a sorority when I was going through formal recruitment in spring 2008. For any of you going planning on going through recruitment in the future I advise you to figure out beforehand what characteristics are important to you, and then look for those in your potential future sisters. If you find those characteristics you know it’s a match.

I know this time of year is really big for sororities and fraternities on college campuses around the country to hold large-scale philanthropy events. I told you about my Mystery Theater Dinner, and I’ve mentioned in much-earlier posts that my sorority also holds a campus wide “Miss Duquesne” Pageant in the spring to raise money for Habitat for Humanity and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

I know my sorority is always looking for a new fresh idea to raise money for our organization’s causes, so I thought I would open this post up for some ideas and suggestions for and from all you sorority girls out there. What does your organization, or another campus organization do on your campus to raise money for philanthropy? What’s the best philanthropy event you’ve been to, held, or just heard about?

For example, the Alpha Phi’s on my campus hold a Red Dress Gala in September, the sisters of Zeta Tau Alpha held a “Jeans for a Cure” event selling designer label jeans at discount prices to raise money for Breast Cancer Research, and the Alpha Gamma Deltas hold a “Grab-A-Greek” date auction just to name a few! All of these are successful and fun ways to help raise money for some really amazing philanthropies.

Now it’s your turn! I want to hear your ideas, so leave me a comment and hopefully we can all brainstorm some great ideas for one of my favorite parts of Greek Life!

My Beta Delta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Tau after our annual Miss Duquesne Pageant in 2009. Center is our Queen, Emily Izzo a sister of Gamma Phi Beta.

Emilyh is a junior at Duquesne University, College Lifestyles™ intern, and sister of Alpha Sigma Tau. She is a clumsy perfectionist who can’t help but laugh at the “awkward turtle” moments in her everyday life. She enjoys community service, event planning, and combining the two for a fabulous time!