Project 1: Fall Ultra Violet Gala
The project that would be implemented with the requested grant fund is the Fall Ultra Violet Gala. The plan is to have a casino night along with a silent auction to bring even more awareness of Alzheimer’s to our community. Because our past Ultra Violet’s have never been as successful as we would like, this year we are planning to do something completely different that would bring the attention to the older generation instead of only college students.
This project will lead the community to be more involved with Alzheimer events. Education will be served when our event brings awareness to individuals who may have never been rightfully informed about Alzheimer’s. This project will also inspire the community to go out into our city and help bring an end to something so severe. The goal of this project is to raise at least $2,500 for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Grant requested: $2,500
Project 2: Girls to Empowered Teens (GET)
The project will be an 8-week mentor based, health education program on body image, self efficacy, and self-esteem in 6th and 7th grade Alamance County girls. These girls are not given the opportunities they need to create high self-esteem. This program gives them the opportunity through mentors and activities to gain self-esteem, which will help them succeed in all aspects of life.
The objectives will be:
- to empower middle school girls to make healthy choices through education, the use of college women as mentors, and skill building in sports/fitness and communication in an effort to enhance self esteem
- build social support and self efficacy
- improve overall health.
Relationships with mentors, either assigned or naturally occurring, have been associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety.
The program would continue its after school activities and programs that have been successful thus far but we would also love to implement an event with our chapter and program mentors during the semester to boost self-esteem as well.
Grant requested: $2,500
Project 3: From Our Family to Yours
This grant will be used for the chapter to participate in Adopt a Family. During the Christmas holiday season, we will adopt a family in need. We will use the funds to not only provide the family with physical gifts and food so they can have an exceptional holiday, but we would also use the money to purchase Visa gift cards so that even after the holidays, they can use those to help pay for groceries, bills, etcetera. The funds will be used to not only provide the family with various gifts, but with items that they need, such as school supplies or winter clothes.
We at Sigma Kappa regard ourselves as a family, an incredibly fortunate one at that. Because of that, we want to help other families in need. We would be “adopting” a family in the area, an area that is one of the poorest in the country. We would be helping a family not simply with gifts and a good meal, but also would provide them with various needs. It could really help a family start to get back on their feet and give deserving children a memory that will last forever. This is something the chapter would continue to do for years to come as well.
One of the goals of this project will not only be to help a deserving family, but to inspire others to help in similar ways. There are so many very fortunate people in our community and with their help, the less fortunate could truly benefit. Children who might not otherwise have a meal or gifts on Christmas would be able to. A child who may not have proper clothes for the winter months or sufficient school supplies could receive them. This is something, should we have the funds to complete, could continue to be done throughout the years and include other Greek and non-Greek organizations. It is something that not just active women in the chapter could participate in. Alumnae could very easily partake in adopting a family, whether it is in this same community or their own.
Grant requested: $2,500
Project 4: Girls Inc.
This project would provide a grant to the local chapter of the national organization, Girls Inc. This organization works with girls ages 6-18 in low income areas. Through programs taught by inspiring women, Girls Inc. inspires girls to be “strong, smart, and bold!” Girls are taught how to manage money, develop interest in math, science and reading, as well as navigate through the pressures and ideals of popular culture and media.
Many young girls in our area don’t have the resources and support they need to become successful, strong, independent women. As Sigma Kappa women, we want to reach out to the community of those young girls around us. As our purpose statement says, we want to bring women together to positively impact our communities, and this cause is something we as young women can easily relate to.
We want to give Girls Inc. funding to expand their resources. In the long run, we hope to do more work with them in the future and raise awareness of their organization on TCU’s campus. Currently no organizations fundraise for Girls Inc. and this cause is something that would be favorable to many college women.
Grant requested: $2,500
Project 5: Sigma Kappa Impact
One the Sigma Kappa website, one of the projects that is suggested is the No Impact Project. This quote is directly from the No Impact Project “The No Impact Project uses entertainment, education and group action to engage new people in the quest for ways of living that connect individual happiness with service to community and habitat”. Basically, this project would help our campus become more aware of the costs and impact that waste products have on the environment and to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.
While our campus is very large, the amount of waste is very excessive. A clean, healthy environment is beneficial to everyone in the local area including animals, people, and the landscape. This would be a great opportunity to make an impact not only for the environment but for those around it as well.
Our university is a very large campus and amount of environmental waste that is in the community is extremely excessive. We, as a chapter, do not believe that this is a result of laziness or pure hatred of the environment. It comes down to the fact that the community is not informed in how to become more environmentally friendly in their everyday life and leave “no impact”.
This project would not only be implemented to improve a community’s local environment, but to teach those in our area, how to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. Whether it is taking a shorter shower or carpooling to work with co-workers, the university community will become more aware of the damages that adverse environmental actions can have. Members of this community could set an example for others in their lives and teach those around them how to lead an environmentally friendly life as well.
Grant requested: $2,000-$2,500
Project 6: Morningside Memory Garden
This project is to establish a memory garden at Morningside Assisted Living, where we volunteer on a weekly basis as a part of our philanthropic work for gerontology. We plan to use approximately $750 to physically create the garden (plants, flowers, other landscaping) and $750 to build or donate structures and decor (a bench or swing, wind chimes, bird bath). The remaining $1,000 would be set up as a fund for upkeep purposes, which may include both day-to-day care of the garden and the addition of engraved stones in memory of late, beloved residents of Morningside. We want to work with Morningside as much as possible to create the exact memory garden that the residents and staff envision, so our funds will be used effectively for that purpose. Additionally, the creation of the memory garden would give us another opportunity to spend time at Morningside. We would incorporate gardening into our weekly visits to Morningside, which could include anything from watering flowers with residents to working on our own pulling weeds.
The Healthy Generation Director at Morningside stated that the idea of a memory garden has been discussed in depth over the years at Morningside, but that the organization and funds to create one have never come together. Family members often return to Morningside after their loved ones have passed in appreciation of the caring, welcoming home Morningside provided.
It would be such a blessing for Morningside to be able to honor each late resident with an engraved stone in the memory garden. This memory garden would also serve as a place for current residents to mourn the loss of their friends and neighbors. I was overwhelmed by the eagerness and gratitude displayed by the staff at Morningside upon presenting this opportunity to them, and our chapter would love to help our friends at Morningside to fulfill this vision.
This project will help to stimulate the elderly community and Morningside by providing a placid escape from the grief of losing loved ones. Additionally, many of the residents are very able, and the opportunity to tend to a garden will restore in them a sense of purpose and responsibility, a feeling that many people lose upon moving into an assisted living home.
Grant requested: $2,500
Project 7: Fortwood Neighborhood Beautification
In the Fortwood Neighborhood Beautification the chapter would help the residents of Fortwood beautify their homes and yards. Since it is a historic neighborhood, many of the houses are very old and are falling apart. Many of yards are in desperate need of mulch and some of the houses have porches that could really use a new coat of paint. This project would primarily be intended to assist our neighbors in making some of the many needed improvements for the upkeep of such old properties.
The purpose of the Fortwood Neighborhood Beautification is to help our neighbors make improvements that would greatly add to the aesthetics of the neighborhood and to help them feel more satisfied with their neighborhoods appearance. Since this is a historic neighborhood, many of the residents of the neighborhood are much older in age and not as financially sound in order to make these improvements on their own. The goal of this project is to assist those individuals by both providing monetary assistance and manual labor towards the improvement of these neighborhoods. Since this project would primarily benefit older residents of the neighborhood, it is very congruent with our own national philanthropy of Gerontology.
This project is geared towards addressing the very strong need many of our neighbors have for the upkeep of such difficult properties to maintain. While this project is primarily geared towards assisting the elderly of the Fortwood Neighborhood, there are a variety of other demographics that will benefit from this grant. Other residents, such as low income residents, or disabled residents will benefit from the assistance. The entire community will benefit from the improved aesthetics of the neighborhood, especially the students and faculty of the university who constantly travel through the neighborhood. The project will also benefit Sigma Kappa and the other greek organizations as it will help to foster positive relationships with the Neighborhood Association.
This project will serve as an example to the rest of our university community of what a difference an organization can make in our communities. The impact of this project will be much more immediate and visible than most philanthropic ventures undertaken by other organizations on our campus. This project will also inspire the residents of the Ft. Wood neighborhood by showing them that there are people who are concerned with the many hassles and struggles they face as residents of a historic neighborhood located immediately next to a University.
Project 8: SK Marrow Drive
With the help of Delete Bone Cancer, our chapter hopes to host a bone marrow drive at our college. SK members will be essentially running the drive with the help of Delete Bone Cancer. Grant money will be used in the processing of the cheek swab samples and to provide snacks to those who donate.
The tragedy of Bone Cancer will be addressed with the help of this grant. Although there is a small chance of finding a match, bone marrow donation can save a life. The community, students and staff will be more than welcome to donate.
This project will allow an easy way for the community to donate by simply getting their cheeks swabbed. I know that many students would love the opportunity to donate but don’t have the opportunity due to time constraints.
Grant requested: $1,500
Project 9: Alzheimer’s Awareness Charity Gala
The project is to hold our first ever Alzheimer’s Awareness Charity Gala. We will be having dinner, speakers, and silent auction during Parent’s Weekend, September 27th. There will be up to 120 guests who will be attending. The purpose of this event is to education the community on Alzheimer’s Disease and to also raise money for the cause.
We plan to sell tickets for the dinner–of which roughly $9 of each ticket will go towards Alzheimer’s Disease Research. We also plan to have donation boxes on the table for guests to contribute to if they wish to do so. A Silent Auction is also going to be held in which all the proceeds will go towards Alzheimer’s Disease Research. With this, we have high hopes of raising a generous amount of money for the cause!
This Gala’s purpose is to donate towards Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Saying that, Alzheimer’s Disease affects a large amount of the population in America. There are many people within our community that will benefit from the money we raise and education we provide. We plan on inviting the residents of our local nursing home and their families as well since Alzheimer’s may already affect some of their lives.
The plan is to have an associate or doctor that works with Alzheimer’s Association to come and speak at the Gala. By doing this, the people attending will be educated and more aware of Alzheimer’s Disease and why we should raise money to help fund research on it. I also hope to find a person who is associated with Alzheimer’s personally. Whether it be a person with Alzheimer’s or a relative of someone who has it, I believe this person, or people, may have a strong impact on the people listening. Personal testimonies from real life experiences will hopefully be educational and eye opening. I also plan on having facts about Alzheimer’s Disease on the tables, in quiz form or just an information sheet, so that during the dinner people can learn facts about it more.
Grant requested: $1,000
