NATIONAL NEWSLETTER FOR
GAMMA SIGMA SIGMA N AT I O N A L S E R V I C E S O R O R I T Y
PERSPECTIVES SPRING/SUMMER 2017 | VOLUME 64, ISSUE 2
SPRING HAS SPRUNG IN AMAC pg4
ZETA, DREXEL UNIVERSITY
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iCONVENTION SERVICE PROJECTS SERVICE PROJECTS COLLEGIATE CHATTER
iCONVENTION I am asked on a regular basis why I have attended every Convention since 1997, and I always have some great answers. But, mostly, it is because of YOU! Since I started this wild ride of planning Convention with my committee, I have seen the great strides of what we as an organization do and what we can do at Convention. However, Convention is more than a social gathering; it is a business meeting where members have the ability to have their voices heard. If you have not signed up yet, you still have time! You can register until June 1, 2017. Convention 2017 is where you can make the difference in the future of Gamma Sigma Sigma. Convention 2017 is in the heart of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and besides all the business that will be conducted, we are planning some great times for you. As you look on the Convention page of the National Website, you will notice our Wednesday night event will be a red-carpet affair where you and your fellow members will walk a Hollywood Walk of Members to an Academy Award-style welcome party. On the red carpet, you can take selfies and videos to post to social media all night long. On Thursday, the Spirit of Service night is going to be a black light event! Members are encouraged to create and bring your own glow-in-the-dark items as well as your cheers, steps and strolls! We plan to dance the night away in a glow party that should be a new spin on Spirit Night. Lastly, Saturday night will be the iRemember Charity Ball where ALL members and their guests are invited to come and donate to the Woman of the Year’s charity and dance, dance, dance! Even our local members who are not Convention attendees may attend this event, including a dinner and dancing option. In between these wonderful events, you will meet new members and experienced members that you want to know for the rest of your life. My committee and I are honored to be planning this gathering for all my friends and peers for what should be one of the BEST Conventions ever! Remember to keep an eye on our event page to see information on the excursions, official Convention T-shirt, and so many other items that we have planned. #iServegss2017 #followmetoconvention2017
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PRESIDENT Jennifer Gentry president@gammasigmasigma.org VICE PRESIDENT Katy Haynes Owen vicepresident@gammasigmasigma.org SERVICE DIRECTOR Aurelia Spaulding service@gammasigmasigma.org TREASURER Lelar Corbett treasurer@gammasigmasigma.org MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Sharon Brice membership@gammasigmasigma.org ALUMNI DIRECTOR Tanisha Cousby alumni@gammasigmasigma.org PROGRAM DIRECTOR Jenna Hershelman program@gammasigmasigma.org MARKETING DIRECTOR Patricia Brugn marketing@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 1 DIRECTOR Ebony Thomas district1director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 2 DIRECTOR Cristal Johnson district2director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 3 DIRECTOR Samantha Del Verne district3director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 4 DIRECTOR Elise Deitrick district4director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 5 DIRECTOR Precious Cristwell district5director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 6 DIRECTOR Chiquita Harville district6director@gammasigmasigma.org
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT T
his Perspectives issue marks the beginning of the end of my term as National President. I hope that I have done an outstanding job over the past two years in shaping this organization to what it is today. As my term as National President will come to a close at Convention 2017 in Pittsburgh, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members and volunteers for your hard work and commitment in building a strong and prosperous sorority. Over the last two years, your stewardship of Gamma Sigma Sigma has been characterized by innovative ideas, strategic thinking, and, most valuably, your tireless efforts to increase the integrity and visibility of our amazing organization. The resulting goodwill has become a huge asset, and the relationships you have fostered will ensure Gamma Sigma Sigma will prosper and continue to offer opportunities to all our members regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation etc. for many years to come. From a personal point of view, your warm friendships and unyielding support have been imperative to me throughout the last two years. The energy and devotion given to this organization fed my energy and devotion and for that I thank you. I hope to leave Gamma Sigma Sigma a better organization and on the strongest of bonds for those who follow. I wish all our members the very best in your future endeavors and look forward to ongoing involvement in Gamma Sigma Sigma in various capacities. I hope that I cross paths with everyone again in the future. Jennifer Gentry National President, Gamma Sigma Sigma president@gammasigmasigma.org
DISTRICT 7 DIRECTOR Lynne Covington district7director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 8 DIRECTOR Whitney Casey district8director@gammasigmasigma.org DISTRICT 9 DIRECTOR Renata Porterfield district9director@gammasigmasigma.org
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SPRING HAS SPRUNG: A SEASON OF GROWTH & RENEWAL IN AMAC
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ach year AMAC strives to be better than the year before. This past spring has brought a newfound season of growth and renewal for the chapter. The chapter is now refocusing on connecting with community partners, continuing to serve, and most importantly building and developing membership. On, Saturday, April 8th the chapter welcomed, with a creative and classy flair, 7 new members. Each member both current and new brings their own unique set of skills, knowledge, experience, and a heart of service. As the season continues, AMAC planned a successful Bowling for Babies to benefit the March of Dimes, additional community focused service projects, and unique and fun membership activities. Stay tuned for more from #TeamAMAC!
SLIPPERY ROCK’S SERVICE PROJECT O
n September 24th, we had one of our biggest Service Projects of the year, Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Throughout the day, all of our sisters came out to support Alex’s Lemonade stand and together we were able to raise over $150 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. This was our most successful Service Project of the semester, and we can’t wait to start working on more!
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GAMMA DELTA VOLUNTEERED AT JDFR WALK M
BY RACHEL ROPER
Historian/PR, Gamma Delta Chapter
embers from the chapter Gamma Delta volunteered this past weekend at the JDFR walk in Oakland, PA. JDFR stands for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and is an organization that is dedicated to creating a world where type 1 diabetes is no longer a problem. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that can affect anyone, contrary to the name. When the organization was started, it was believed that type 1 diabetes only affected children, but was later learned that adults suffer from it as well. Unlike type 2 diabetes, this disease can not be reversed with a change in diet and exercise. Treatment for type 1 diabetes includes a replacement of the patient’s insulin, which can be costly. This organization strives to end type 1 diabetes by fundraising for research as well as advocacy. Our members spent the day setting up for the race doing things such as decorating with balloons and spreading garbage cans throughout the race area. Prior to the race starting, they were stationed in the kids area where they were face painting, helping kids with coloring pages, and getting them excited for the walk. In addition to volunteering their time, they also had the opportunity to work with some of our fellow sisters in the Gamma Rho chapter from the University of Pittsburgh. Our members had a wonderful time and this event and definitely look forward to volunteering next year!
IUP GSS VOLUNTEER
Cruise for a Cause Car Show
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he sisters of GSS volunteered at the Cruise for a Cause Car Show, hosted by Giant Eagle in Indiana. Sisters helped run the concession stand, sold 50/50s and ran corn hole games. All of the proceeds from this event went to one of our service partners, the American Cancer Society.
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MELON MASH
This semester, in collaboration with the fraternity Beta Theta Pi, the Gamma Rho chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma threw a watermelon-themed philantrophy event. Anybody could come join the end-of-summer bash to participate in fun activities like watermelon bashing, dunk tank, watermelon speed eating contests, and watermelon carving competitions. The event played out in the center of campus, and after all the fun and games we were able to raise over $600 for Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, an organization dedicated to creating safe and healthy homes for low-income residents in our community! The University of Pittsburgh campus was able to come together to help our community in a fun and interactive way, and Gamma Rho is very proud to have co-sponsored the first Melon Mash at our campus.
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DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, WE CELEBRATE A DAY OF SERVICE AS AN ORGANIZATION District 3 enjoyed the following projects: TAU — We collected school supplies and made baskets to donate to a school where one of our Alums now works!! THETA ALPHA — We made Halloween cards for hospitalized children and sent them to Cards for Hospitalized Kids who distribute them across the country ETA OMEGA — On October 10th, we painted pumpkins with a local preschool. ZETA NU — We made cards and crafts with the local preschoolers GAMMA RHO — We volunteer at the local Boys and Girls club every day, doing arts and crafts, playing games, and being of assistance to their hardworking staff members! BETA PSI — Made cards for children’s hospitals cancer patients
Jo Charest, Alumni-Day of Service 2016
SERVICE PROJECTS THAT D3 PARTICIPATED TO FIGHT HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER TAU — Thanksgiving food bank distribution (Zeta Nu) THETA ALPHA — Crocheting mats for the homeless GAMMA DELTA — We participated in Saint Vincent de Paul on the 13th & the 20th. This is an organization at Duquesne that goes downtown on Sunday evenings to take a hot meal and any clothing or hygiene supplies to the homeless of Pittsburgh. On he 19th, we had members work at The Blessing Board which is an organization that helps people furnish their homes in a time of need. Many of these people are coming out of homeless situations from domestic abuse, house fires, or after being rehabilitated from drug abuse. Also throughout November, we have been volunteering at the Oakland Food Pantry serving those in need. BETA PSI — Care packages for the homeless GAMMA RHO — Our MIT class chose to do this as their project. The main goal was to raise awareness about homelessness in our city so they handed out ribbons in support of poverty awareness. The biggest effort was to support the Oakland food Pantry, which provides food for students and residents of Oakland who experience food insecurity. We collected non-perishable food items from our members and any other students on campus to donate to the Oakland Food pantry and had a bake sale to raise money to donate to the Oakland Food Pantry to support their efforts. ETA OMEGA — We held a campus wide food drive with the habitat for humanity club and office of service learning. TAU —We worked with Abba Java coffee house, which is a free student coffee house. As volunteers, we make coffee, and distribute snacks to students in need. We also work to keep the coffee house clean! Abba Java has also recently implemented a recycling system, so our sisters are also being mindful of that! GAMMA PHI —Collected food for our community outreach center on campus. They provide meals as well as clothes and other necessities to the local community.
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GAMMA SIGMA SIGMA
TAU CHAPTER
Saint Francis University
JANUARY SERVICE PROJECT
Penn State
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uring finals week at Saint Francis University, the members of Gamma Sigma Sigma handed out free hot chocolate to students. The members wore their red and green and made sure to keep the students festive during a hectic time of the semester. There were also many different toppings to choose from, such as candy canes, Oreos, M&Ms, and whipped cream. It was amazing to do a service event for the campus. Each individual left the table with a smile on their face, which made the holiday season just a little bit brighter!
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uring our chapter meeting on January 29th, we had the opportunity to listen to a representative of the State College area American Red Cross. She explained where donated blood goes and how the organization determines what their goal is for each drive. Twenty-five of our members donated blood to the American Red Cross on January 31st while others volunteered at the drive. We have more members signed up to donate blood later this week as well. Penn State has multiple blood drives this week that are benefitting THON.
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ALPHA CHAPTER
GAMMA PHI CHAPTER SAINT FRANCIS UNIVERSITY The Gamma Phi chapter at Saint Francis University holds what is called a Gamma Week at the beginning of every semester. Each day during this week, a different fundraiser was held for each of our five philanthropies. On Monday September 12th, there was a lemonade stand to support Alex’s Lemonade Stand. The lemonade stand also sold baked goods and was a big hit for the entire campus. On Tuesday, there was a carnation sale to support the American Cancer Society. A bouquet of flowers was donated to us and each color flower represented a different form of cancer. On Wednesday, we had a blood drive to benefit the American Red Cross. We hold two blood drives each semester and this first blood drive fit perfectly into our Gamma Week. We had a great turn out and our blood drive continues to grow. Thursday was dedicated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, also known as MADD. We were able to have a drunk driving simulation with golf carts and goggles that impaired vision. Many students took part in the simulation and were shocked at how hard it was to focus on the road. It made people think twice about getting behind the wheel after drinking. Friday September 16th was the final day of Gamma week and it was a Change War for March of Dimes. Members of the chapter got baby pictures from fraternity members. A table was set up with all of the pictures and a baby bottle was set up next to each picture. Students voted for their favorite baby by placing change into the respective picture’s baby bottle. The winner received a bedazzled baby bottle. The entire week was a complete success and we thank everyone who helped out with it. We look forward to future Gamma weeks!
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ETA OMEGA CHAPTER CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY
ETA DELTA CHAPTER JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY Eta Delta chapter at James Madison University activated 84 girls from the Upsilon pledge class on Friday night. I am including a picture of the whole sorority and a picture to hopefully show a fun way of doing big/little reveal, where the girls were called up by their family and had to find the person with the matching socks on the other side of the sheet. We now have just under 240 members. When I joined the sorority just 3 years ago, after my pledge class, we had about 80-90 girls. We continue to grow every year. Tonight we decided that we will not be taking a pledge class next semester, but will work on tightening our relationship among one another and preparing for the next large pledge class.
Throughout the month of September, the members of the Eta Omega Chapter at California University of Pennsylvania dedicated their time to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. They kicked off the month of September by walking their first mile as a group around campus for Alex’s Million Mile! Then throughout the month, members gathered in the evening, Monday through Friday, to walk a mile together. In addition to walking for Alex’s Million Mile, they also held multiple lemonade stands where they paired with Rita’s Italian Ice and sold lemon flavored ice. All proceeds were collected for the foundation. To end the month of September, they paired with Applebee’s to hold a Dine to Donate event, where 15% of the bill went towards the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation! Eta Omega is very proud of their members for helping to end the fight against childhood cancer!
TAU CHAPTER PENN STATE
GAMMA RHO PITT This past month Gamma Rho has started to consistently partner with Feel Good, a national organization with a chapter here at Pitt. Their mission is to end extreme poverty by 2030 through service, raised awareness, and education to others. We help them sell sandwiches every Thursday as well as hand out informative pamphlets about their goal and what students can do every day to make a difference.
The Tau Chapter from Penn State went on the Penn State Dance Marathon’s first canning weekend. Our girls travelled around Pennsylvania to collect donations for children with pediatric cancer at the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. We are paired with another organization on campus, Kappa Sigma, and together we raised $13,000 for the kids! Throughout the year, we also support three families. Our THON children, Artie, Nick, and Bek, are an inspiration to all of our members, and we are so lucky that all three are cancer free! Look out for our members October 29th and 30th during the second canning weekend!
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GAMMA DELTA CHAPTER DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY
Duquesne University’s Gamma Delta chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma had an amazing start! We began our semester with a blooming service partner of ours called The Blessing Board, where we are assistants to “ambassadors” as we walk around and help families coming from difficulties pick out new furniture and home items. Our members also volunteered at Holt International’s Winter Jam. Holt International is dedicated to assisting children in being adopted and overall helping families. Lastly, we held a drive for a family in the Pittsburgh community that had lost all of their belongings and the life of one of their children in a horrible fire. We collected gift cards and cash to hopefully aid the family’s recovery.
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INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA- BETA PSI
This month the sisters of Gamma Sigma Sigma Beta Psi Chapter attended the 8th Annual Bras for a Cause Gala and Basket Auction. The night entailed walking around the room to collect bid money for all of the baskets. There was a total of seventythree baskets that were auctioned off that night. The goal for Bras for a Cause was to reach $8000 for Birdie’s Closet, a one-of-a-kind project at Indiana Regional Medical Center that was created to offer cancer patients supplies to help them cope with appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. Along side raising funds for this project, $500 of the proceeds also went to a scholarship for Indiana County graduates.
ST.FRANCIS-GAMMA PHI R.E.D day is an annual service event held at Saint Francis University every year. It stands for Reaching Every Door and is one of the biggest events at Saint Francis. The members of the Gamma Phi chapter are in charge of every aspect of the day. They reach out to both the campus community and the local community to find different service projects to complete, as well as distributing shirts to every volunteer. They also take care of the transportation since there are service projects that take place off campus. Some of the service projects this particular year included mulching, painting, road clean up, and helping a local dairy farm set up for their fall festivities. The campus has a special compressed schedule to allow every student to have a chance to serve. This year was the best one yet. There were 447 participants and 1081 service hours. It was an amazing day filled with smiles and good feelings. The goal is to make R.E.D. day even bigger every year and to reach more people. This day truly represents what it means to be a Gamma member and a student at Saint Francis University.
PENN STATE-TAU Eight of our members went to Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center on October 30th to work on rebuilding a gate that had been put up quickly and was poorly done in the past. The gate will be used to re-route hikers on the trail. Our girls had to measure the space for the gate and cut down the wood planks to size by using power tools and saws. Then they used a wedge tool to shave down the sides to ensure they properly fit into place. Thanks to our frequent work with Shaver’s Creek, we recently received a certificate of appreciation for our 6 years of loyal and conscientious service!
SLIPPERY ROCK-ZETA NU Gamma Sigma Sigma of Slippery Rock University attended a Breast Cancer Awareness walk this month in Pittsburgh. The walk was in station square and was 3 miles long. After the walk, the sister participated in a Zumba class, they never get tired of doing service!
CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PA-ETA OMEGA During the month of October, we collaborated with Phi Sigma Sigma to collect donations of school supplies which resulted in us collecting a little over 200 items! This event was especially important to us because it was in memory of one of our members close friends who passed away last year, she was studying to become a teacher which is why we decided to honor her by collecting donations of school supplies! We also held our national day of service, which we held at The Village preschool in town. During this event, we brought pumpkins to paint with the students of the preschool, which was lots of fun! To finish off the month, we participated in a Penny War with the Zeta Nu chapter of GSS!
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PITTSBURGH UNIVERSITY OF PA-GAMMA RHO
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY GAMMA DELTA
This month, the Gamma Rho chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma hosted their annual philanthropy event for the non-profit, March of Dimes. This event is a male beauty pageant where each contestant represents their organization and has the chance to win $100 towards the charity of their choice. Our event had a broad range of contestants, representing the Cross Country team to an entire engineering major. Our winner was a contestant from Sigma Alpha Mu, and the organization with the largest attendance (which won them all cookies our Service VP made) was also Sigma Alpha Mu.
Earlier this month, a group of our members volunteered at the Donut Dash which was held in Oakland, Pennsylvania. The Donut Dash is in affiliation with The Live Like Lou Center for ALS Research. This organization raises money to help reach a cure for the neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This disease affects approximately 6,000 people every year in the United States. At this event, our remembers volunteered by handing out donuts to the contestants that were competing as well as cheering on the runners to help give them motivation to finish the race. Upon completion of the race, our members helped with clean up and handing out t-shirts and medals.
This event has always been one of the larger events our chapter hosts, and this year was just as big of a success as the past 3 years! Last year since we won the university award for the best organization, the current Dean of Students attended as a judge. Next year we are looking forward to hosting another great event!
ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY-THETA ALPHA Theta Alpha chapter has gotten an amazing group of MITs this semester. (One of them Taylor Loucks, is shown below) The set up a bake sale to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Fund. Cancer is something that has affected many of our members and their family members, so this was something we all felt good about doing. October is also National Breast Cancer Awareness month, which is really big at RMU (Robert Morris University). They raised more than $400 in a week. Compared to other chapters this may not seem like a lot, but for us that is incredible. It is also well deserved. These girls spent long hours baking and selling. I could not be more proud of them, and the good work they are doing.
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GAMMA SIGMA SIGMA ZETA NU CHAPTER Gamma Sigma Sigma Zeta Nu Chapter had a wonderful time participating in disability sports night. We played wheel chair tennis, wheel chair rugby, and sitting volley ball. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun as well. It is an event that we look forward to each year.
THETA ALPHA
BY JOJO DUGAN Theta Alpha Public Relations Coordinator
The Theta Alpha has recruited a group of promising MITs this semester. (Two of them are shown below, Alexa Aurednik and Christian Rogers) Recently we held a used crayon drive collection. The donated crayons will benefit the non-profit group, No Crayon Left Behind. This locally based group collects old, used crayons from the area to recycle and create brand new ones. Their process makes sure that no crayon is going to waste. These recreated crayons benefit underprivileged children of our area in Southwestern Pennsylvania and third world countries. The Theta Alpha Chapter is held a crayon drive at RMU (Robert Morris University) during the last week of February, going into March. Our drive is to encourage students at RMU to donate old crayons to benefit No Crayon Left Behind. Together with our efforts, we hope to collect a lot of crayons for a good cause.
TAU CHAPTER
PITT OPPORTUNITIES IN STEM
On February 26th Tau Chapter hosted a service event for State Day of Service. For this event we held a Gift of Life drive. We handed out swab kits to volunteers to be entered in a bone marrow registry. Tau Chapter explained how the swabs work and how to use them. Ninety-one people were swabbed at this drive.
This month Pitt volunteered a lot all over the city helping different organizations. One is particular is the Carnegie Science Center at their Engineering the Future event. This event teaches students all about opportunities in STEM fields for their future endeavors. We had sisters go to the event across the three day span helping students of all ages.
Two of our members were contacted last week about being a match for someone in need. It is usually a 1 in 500 chance that you will be picked as a match, but there can be multiple people who are selected as a match with only one or two passing all the tests to become a donor for someone.
GAMMA PHI CHAPTER AT SAINT FRANCIS This month the Gamma Phi chapter at Saint Francis made Valentines cards for veterans in a local veteran’s home. Each member helped hand make these valentines cards. Our chapter made over 50 cards for these veterans. Our card making is part of our chapter’s ongoing partnership with the veteran’s home. We make cards for these veterans for a few different holidays throughout the year. The residents were blown away with how beautiful the cards turned out.
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ETA OMEGA
This month, our chapter coordinated a Bowl-a-Thon fundraiser for St. Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital. With the help of 40 members of our campus community who participated in the event, friends and family of our members, and our members, our chapter was able to donate $750 to St. Jude’s along with inspirational cards and coloring activities for the patients! Our member Natalie Reichard was our top fundraiser, raising $110!
DUQUESNE GAMMA DELTA CHAPTER
Duquesne’s Gamma Delta Chapter began February by our amazing members volunteering at Northside Catholic High School’s Night of the Races, where they helped with the 50/50 and raffle sales, all of which helped benefit Northside Catholic’s school. The Duquesne Chapter also participated in the Duquesne Day of Giving, a yearly, Duquesne sponsored event which encourages all alumni, staff, faculty, students, family and friends to make a donation in the name of Duquesne University and decide how it will be used. The day of giving fell on a day we had chapter, so as a chapter we took a photo to participate in the campus wide initiative. Some of our members also had the chance to go to THON with the Tau chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma. The nine members that were chosen to go to THON had an amazing time at the Bryce Jordan Center and were blown away at the unity of the Tau chapter in their battle against Pediatric cancer. We will raise our diamonds high in unity in the battle against pediatric cancer with our fellow Gamma Sigs! Thank you to the tau chapter, our President Diana and our Corresponding Secretary Marissa for planning the whole event!
BETA PSI This past week, for Eating Disorder Awareness week the sisters of GSS Beta Psi chapter covered all of the mirrors in the Library. #MirrorlessMonday The mirrors were covered with white paper and were asked to write encouraging thoughts to fellow peers. It was a huge success!
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We ended February, right before midterms, on the right note: with a love filled big little reveal where all the members participated in dancing to a 30 second clip, chosen by the big, and when the music stopped, all but the big and the little were left standing. The photograph is a photo of one of our biggest trees.
ALUMNI IN ACTION THE GREATER ATLANTA ALUMNI CHAPTER (GAAC)
The Greater Atlanta Alumni Chapter (GAAC) continues to unite through service as they make an impact on society. Continuing support to Girls on The Run is one of the members’ many exciting endeavors this Fall. In addition, the Women’s Empowerment Expo is an ongoing annual community wide event geared towards mental health awareness, networking, and unity that GAAC plans and hosts. Also, GAAC participated in D5 and D7 Spirit Days, which entailed ice breakers, crafts, strolling, stepping, and bonding. Other activities included Alex’s Million Mile, A Winter Clothing Drive, co-hosting game night with AMAC at a youth organization, and supporting a local food bank.
SUNSHINE STATE ALUMNI
The Sunshine State Alumni (Interest Group/Colony) ended the year on a service and fun filled note. Throughout the month, these ladies collected toys for special needs children at the Blue Jay Academy of Daytona Beach, FL. The donations made it possible for the students to have an enjoyable Christmas in 2016. In addition, the ladies of Sunshine State participated in their very own “Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.” In the spirit of giving, the Christmas party featured a dessert and gift exchange as well as a balloon race, amongst other party games, As the New Year progresses, these ladies are looking forward to another year of Service, Friendship and Equality and will kick the year off the year with a Vision Board Social in January.
GSS C.A.R.E.S
“GSS C.A.R.E.S (Collaboration to Assist in Relief Efforts through Service) was a success this past Saturday! We had several booths with great participation from all ages! There was also plenty of laughter and service in the atmosphere! We can’t wait until our next event! “
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ALUMNI IN ACTION RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE TAMPA, FLORIDA On Saturday, February 25, 2017 The Bi-Coastal Florida Alumni Chapter cooked an amazing dinner at the Tampa, Florida Ronald McDonald House. The meal consisted of chicken stir-fry, yellow rice, mixed vegetables, and cookies!
“MARCH FOR BABIES” MARCH OF DIMES WALK ORLANDO, FLORIDA 7 members of the Bi-Coastal Florida Alumni Chapter participated in the Orlando, Florida March of Dimes walk on Saturday, April 29, 2017. The Chapter whose membership spans various neighboring counties came together to join hundreds of walkers and volunteers from organizations, families, and community friends to support March of Dimes. Together, they completed the 3K, taking twists and turns around the beautiful Downtown Orlando neighborhoods. The Bi-Coastal Florida Alumni Chapter also raised funds for the National Partner.
HOUSTON BAYOU CITY ALUMNI
Gamma Sigma Sigma the Houston Bayou City Alumni Chapter worked as a great assembly line while we compiled many Alzheimer’s awareness packets.
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VINEY MOSLEY Named Gamma Sigma Sigma WOMAN OF THE YEAR G
amma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority, Inc. is pleased to announce its 2017 Woman of the Year, Viney Mosley, who is the president and cofounder of Levi’s Children’s Charity located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. With the sudden death of Levi, her three-year-old grandson, Mosley was inspired to co-found Levi’s Children’s Charity. Levi’s Children’s Charity is a charitable-giving organization supporting projects and efforts restoring hope, happiness and health to children and families. Levi’s Children’s Charity also established fundraising opportunities to build an accessible outdoor nature inspired playground called Levi’s Adventure Trail. For more information visit www.levisadventuretrail.com. Another key component of Mosley’s focus that the sorority hopes to support is to increase awareness of the Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). The SUDC Foundation’s goal is to prevent this unspeakable tragedy by funding research to hopefully allow future generations of children and parents a preventative cure. By endorsing the efforts of the SUDC Foundation, Viney hopes to promote public knowledge during the national SUDC Awareness Month in March 2017. Gamma Sigma Sigma recognizes a woman of local or national prominence who has made a difference in her community during the year of its national convention. The Woman of the Year is someone that has worked to improve the community around her by either creating a program or working over and above within a program to make a difference in either her local community or the national landscape. Mosley will be recognized July 7-8, 2017 at Gamma Sigma Sigma’s National Convention in Pittsburgh, PA. With this award, the organization will bestow National Honorary Membership to Mosley and provide a minimum $2,000 donation to Levi’s Children’s Charity.
Let’s Make 2017
GREAT! BY AURELIA SPAULDING National Service Director
B
etween now and our 33rd National Convention, we will initiate new members into the sorority, graduate dedicated members, and see collegiates and alumni become or remain actively engaged in their communities. It is with great pleasure that I write this welcome to service in 2017. It is a new year, and I am even more motivated to serve as your National Service Director. As I finish out my term, there are a few things I would like to invite you to partner with me on between now and July. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Let’s seek opportunities to learn more about the causes in which we serve. Let’s be open to improving regular service activities and thinking creatively about new service programs. Let’s actively serve with members in other chapters/colonies through inter-chapter service or national service activities. Let’s recognize our members and outstanding serve leaders in our community for their impact. Let’s take advantage of sorority resources and the wealth of knowledge within the organization to plan for a meaningful next biennium of service.
I look forward to providing details on Gamma Sigma Sigma’s service achievements this summer. I believe you will be pleased with how much we have accomplished together.
GAMMA SIGMA SIGMA PO BOX 248 Rindge, NH 03461 Change Service Requested
SERVICE AND FELLOWSHIP WITH
RIVER REGION GARNETS & PEARLS ALUMNI
River Region Garnets & Pearls Alumni ended 2016 with plenty of service and fellowship. RRGP kicked off summer ‘16 with a refreshing Alex’s Lemonade Stand to the residents of Montgomery, Al. Residents of the area happily participated in our efforts to raise money and awareness for ALS! All proceeds were donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand. We are looking forward to doing some new and exciting things this upcoming summer with ALS. Stay tuned. In November, we held our annual interest social for new members. Our Mingle and Mocktails theme was a great success! Potential members were able to learn more information about our awesome chapter and organization during the event. After the informational session, everyone let loose and enjoyed the mocktails and photo booth. We are thrilled that everyone had a good time and hope to see some new faces in 2017. Lastly, a few of the members were able to participate with Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity Inc. at the Books for Africa service event in Atlanta, Ga. Members were divided into teams to sort, organize and package books
to be shipped to different countries in Africa. We are glad that we were able to participate in such a wonderful event. 2016 was a great year for RRGP. Thank you to all the members who worked so hard throughout the year. Your service and commitment to this chapter did not go unnoticed. Thank you to the members of AMAC, Zeta Theta and countless AlumniAt- Large for participating with us in some of our events. We appreciate your support and look forward to working together again in 2017. Look out for us in 2017! We are back and better than ever!
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