PERSPECTIVES The Official Publication of Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority
Volume 55, Issue 1
www.gammasigmasigma.org
FALL 2008
OUR convention, yours as well as mine By Aurelia Spaulding, National Marketing Director
Since the Constitutional Convention in 1952, only one Gamma Sigma Sigma event has taken place in order to make the decisions on the governing rules of the national organization, elect new national board members, and allow GSS to meet other members from opposite sides of the country. This event, which only takes place every other year, is our National Convention. Notice the key word in that last sentence. The key word isn’t “national” or “convention.” The key and defining word is “OUR.” The Gamma Sigma Sigma National Convention is OUR convention. It is OUR time to discuss and learn, show our GSS spirit, fellowship together, and meet members you may only read about. The National Convention is OUR time to vote on bylaws and policies. OUR means ownership and we should care about those things that are our own. OUR founders, who attended the Constitutional Convention, came from different areas of the country. They communicated by letters instead of email and facebook. They traveled by train instead of plane or cars. They made their way to Beekman Towers for one reason and one reason only—to start a national service sorority. While we sometimes forget the foundation of OUR organization, I challenge you for the months leading up to the summer of 2009, and the years following to make your Destination: Service, as these ladies did to start OUR organization nearly 56 years ago. The theme of next year’s convention, “Destination: Service,” roots in the quote by Gamma Sigma Sigma First National President, Barbara Ferraro, on the founding of OUR sorority, “SERVICE was to be the worthwhile endeavor that would be the rock upon which FRIENDSHIP and EQUALITY was built.” I challenge you to continue building on that rock. I challenge you to put the National Convention on your calendar. Mark the date: July 9-12, 2009. Arrive on Wednesday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and participate in the Newcomer’s Festivities. And, don’t let finances get in your way. Chapters, as long as you stay in good standing, you qualify for two free quad registrations. This means, you can send up to two members to the National Convention with the registration fee covered through the travel pool you’ve paid into each November. These two members serve as delegates representing your chapter at OUR
Members at the 2007 National Convention in Chicago
National Convention. Our current colonies in good standing receive one free quad registration. Our current alumni colonies in good standing receive one vote and one free quad registration. Alumni-at-large, start preparing everything you need for the trip to Fort Lauderdale. The activities of the convention are not set aside for only members of chapters and colonies. You will find a number of activities and workshops of interest to you as an alumni-at-large at the convention. Alums and Collegiates both have 10 months to set aside money for travel expenses and registration fees. Your registration includes your convention materials, four nights stay at the convention hotel, as well as meals. Take a look at the convention flyer on page 5 of this issue which outlines 10 things to do as you countdown the months to convention. I encourage you to attend OUR 29th National Convention. This is OUR event, yours as well as mine, and I look forward to seeing you there.
In This Issue Collegiate Chapter News Alumni/Service News Convention Flyer Leadership Conference Information Service News Communication Pointers Exposure National Jeweler Upcoming Events/Misc. Info
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Want to know what the MIT process was like in the 50s, 60s, and 70s? Find out in the next issue! 1
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Collegiate News Chapters/Colonies - Get your service projects, pledge classes or other events in Perspectives. To submit information, mail pictures and/or story to the Perspectives Editor or send to perspectives@gammasigmasigma.org (If emailing pictures they must be originally taken/scanned at high res. 300 DPI)
Nueva Esperanza: Alpha Iota Gives New Hope to Families in Guatemala Submitted by: Emily Marshall To wrap up the school year, 10 members of the Alpha Iota chapter in Duluth, Minnesota went on a missions-style trip to Guatemala. Over the year they held successful fundraisers such as a carwash, spaghetti dinner, Penguin-Flocking people’s yards, bake sale, and selling coupons for the Younker’s Community Day Sale. Athena Westin, recent alumni of the chapter, and current District I Director, received one of the $500.00 scholarships awarded by the National Board. After a long year of fundraising and planning, the members pooled their talents and traveled to Guatemala to provide services to the people affiliated with Common Hope. Common Hope is an organization which offers services to families in poverty. Some of the services they offer are medical, dental, education, construction, and housing. The members of Alpha Iota got the opportunity to volunteer in health fairs, schools, social work visits, food warehouses, pharmacies, exercise classes, and other areas of their interest and expertise. The members also built an entire house while they were there, and started putting up a second before they had to head back to the States. When the arrived back to Minnesota, they continued to do service together! This summer, members from Alpha Iota and the gentlemen of Alpha Phi Omega helped with the annual Grandma’s Marathon which is held in Duluth, Minnesota. They also helped with the biannual Air Show. This summer they even held their first ever Alex’s Lemonade Stand! Summer or winter, rain or shine, the women of Alpha Iota never stop giving their time, talent and treasure to areas in their community and around the world. They are excited to begin the new school year packed with favorite events and people, and adding new ideas and new faces. They wish everyone the best of luck with rush and the 2008-2009 school year.
Gamma Alpha Submitted by: Audreen Robinson Gamma Alpha has been working tirelessly at upholding our principles in the Florida A&M community since 1969. In 2007, this chapter was awarded FAMU's Outstanding Greek Letter Organization and still holds that title! Staple service projects include Cookout for the Homeless, March of Dimes, Food Fight, Second Harvest, Campus Clean-Up, Relay for Life, VolunteerLeon, work with the Big Bend Homeless Coalition and so much more. Gamma Alpha will be hosting the 2009 GSS District VII Spirit Day in the spring.
Mission Trip Submitted by: Stephanie Herzog On June 9th I headed to New Orleans, LA for what I thought would be a three week volunteer experience. I ended up staying for seven weeks and finding a second family. While in Louisiana, I worked at the Carpenter's House, which is a community/distribution center, located in the heart of the Lower Ninth Ward. They give away food, clothing, and household goods, but more importantly, they offer their love. There are many other services offered such as counseling, karate, music lessons, a women’s group, and the rebuilding of houses. In those seven weeks, I met so many people that I now consider family and would do anything for if they asked. Ms. Gloria and Ms. D are two elder women that still call and hope to attend my graduation this year. Tyree is a 14-year-old boy from the neighborhood who could not read or write, but by the end of the trip was reading at a 2nd grade level. Al and Louis are two men that would cook me meals and just sit and chat. As well as the owners of the Carpenter’s House, Charles and Judy, who showed me nothing but love and treated me as their own daughter. It would take a novel to explain how I feel about each individual that I met and the many experiences that I had in those seven weeks. This was my seventh trip to New Orleans and despite the destruction; I fell in love with the city and its hopeful residents again. The next issue of Perspectives will feature more mission trip stories!
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Alumni and Service News Houston Bayou City Alumni
Twin Cities Alumn Host District Service Day
Submitted by: Joyce Brooks, National Secretary
Submitted by: Mary Ann Carr, Sevice VP of Twin Cities Alumni
The Houston Bayou City Alumni Chapter presented the first Marvyn G. Ruppert Educational Award to Ms. Tonnisha Blount from Westfield High School in Spring, TX. The chapter has granted an educational award for the past four years to a deserving high school senior. This year's award amount is $1,000. Earlier this year, HBCA renamed the award in honor of one of the founder's of Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority, Mrs. Marvyn. G. Ruppert, who passed away on Sunday September 16, 2007 at the age of 75.
Members of Twin Cities Alumni Chapter hosted their second district Service Day April 19th in Roseville, Minnesota. Twelve collegiate members from Alpha Iota, Alpha Pi and Zeta Beta chapters joined the 13 alums to work in small groups on seven different projects for a total of 100 hours of service! Over half these hours were in the Project I.M.P.A.C.T. areas of chronic disease and hunger. Projects included the assembly of 40 personal care kits for the Anoka County food shelf, and the creation of 13 star ornaments and 48 beaded necklaces for the residents of the St. Paul YWCA Women’s Transitional Housing Project. Alpha Pi members brought materials to make 20 spring door decorations in a flower basket motif for an assisted living facility in Menomonie, Wisconsin. One favorite project, suggested by Alpha Iota chapter, was SuperSibs Cards, handmade greeting cards for siblings of children with cancer. We decorated over 90 cards. More information on this project can be found at www.supersibs.org. Another favorite project was making two dozen CD Fish decorations for a local assisted living facility, Crestview. Some members started work on Christmas decorations for Bridging, an organization that provides household items to families in transition. We assembled two dozen “sheet music centerpieces.” Before and after lunch chapters competed in a sorority version of the Newlywed Game. The Service Day was an easy way to provide lots of service to many different organizations and a great time for the alums and collegiate members to get to know each other better. We plan to continue this Service Day tradition.
Members in photo: (back row from left to right) Celeste McNeil, Meika Sherrer, and Joyce Brooks (front row from left to Right) Cecelia Brumsey, award winner Tonnisha Blount, and award winner 2007 Britney Edwards
Bluegrass Alumni Submitted by: Aurelia Spaulding, President of Bluegrass Alumni
Who says alumni are ol’ skool and don’t know how to have fun? Bluegrass Alumni took fun in service to another level with planning events for the upcoming year. On November 1st, Bluegrass will be joining efforts with Beta Sigma to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Beta Sigma Chapter at Western Kentucky University. Then on December 5th, the chapter will host the Red Affects Fashion Show to benefit Matthew 25 AIDS Services, Inc. This event is held following World AIDS Day on December 1st. We also look forward to a fundraising event in May for Lupus Awareness Month. Our upcoming service projects include serving dinner to the youth at Kaleidoscope Youth in Arts Program and residents at the Salvation Army. The chapter plans to hold a food drive for Warm Blessings in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky area for Thanksgiving. For Christmas, we will adopt a family to provide dinner. Our Vice President used the great service resources on our National Website to find projects for our members with busy schedules. For our fall meeting in October we will be collecting packages of socks for soldiers, used cell phones for domestic abuse shelters, used eye glasses or jewelry, and expired coupons for military families. These items will be donated to support different causes. Plus, since most of us spend a good part of our day online, we are clicking on sites like thebreastcancersite.org, freerice.com, or thehungersite.org to help those causes as well. Lastly, we updated our alumni listing and sent out postcards and emails for our summer meeting. Now, we are excited to say we welcome two new members, Maria Brown and Patricia Pasley. Maria joined Beta Sigma in 1997 and Patricia joined Beta Sigma in 1969. We are excited to have them to our Bluegrass Alumni Chapter!
Mary Ann Carr can be reached via e-mail at: Macarr1943@embarqmail.com and via phone at: 952-448-9731
SERVICE NEWS
Continuing our National Challenge Submitted by: Deb Folsom, National Service Director One of the two I.M.P.A.C.T. areas for this biennium is Ending World Hunger and Heifer International is trying to do just that! Their mission is to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. Heifer provides families with training and a livestock gift. We are continuing our challenge to all Gamma Sigma Sigma chapters, colonies and alumni-at-large to participate in fundraising activities in their communities to raise funds for Heifer International via TEAM HEIFER. Check out our team under TEAM HEIFER (www.heifer.org) under the name “Gamma Sigma Sigma, National Service Sorority.” There are pages set up, one for each of our eight districts, one for all alums (at-large and within chapters/colonies), and one for our collegiate colonies. Each group’s fundraising efforts will be tracked on the individual pages and our total (all groups) will be tracked on the National page. Do not forget that the NBD will send a donation to Heifer in the name of the top three fundraising groups. This fundraising drive ends December 31, 2008! Contact Karen Kerr, National Membership Director, at membership@gammasigmasigma.org with any questions. Don’t forget to send in pictures/news about what you did to fundraise for Heifer to Perspectives!
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Alumni News Submitted by: Judi Mecsics, National Alumni Director The Alumni of Gamma Sigma Sigma are going strong and it has certainly kept me busy these last few months. First of all, congratulations to the members of Dogwood Alumni Chapter, who were granted their charter in June. We also have two new colonies – Magnolia Alumni Colony in Mississippi and Central Florida Alumni in the Orlando area. The list of Interest Groups is growing as well – our latest is in Maryland. In addition, efforts are underway to reactivate several Alumni Chapters, which is especially exciting. Once again, I am totally impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm of our Alumni members. Due to the unexpected high gas prices and increased travel costs lately, it was decided not to hold an Alumni Conference this biennium. Instead, I am encouraging all Alumni to try and attend one of the wonderful conferences being held around the country. This affords us the great opportunity to network with other alumni and collegiate members, do a service project together and get to know each other. Then next summer, at convention in Fort Lauderdale, there will be a very special Alumni workshop where we will have ample time to discuss issues specific to alumni. I also plan to have other opportunities at convention for alumni to share project ideas, recruitment strategies, fundraiser tips, etc. So plan to attend now and bring information and ideas to share. I am very pleased to say that the response to the Alumni service project, SOCKS FOR SOLDIERS, is going very well. I have heard from numerous chapters, colonies and alumni-at-large about their participation in the project. Some have included the collection of the socks in conjunction with a social event or recruitment idea. Pretty ingenious, I think. I have heard several members that encouraged workmates to contribute socks as well. Your efforts are so appreciated! Just a note – if you haven’t checked out the new National Website – do! You can check out the websites of other alumni chapters while you are there, too. It is a grand way to see what other GSS alums are doing and do some networking. As always, thank you for all you are doing for your communities in the name of Gamma Sigma Sigma. Let me know if there are any concerns or questions I can help you with. Keep sharing your news and pictures with me, too!
National Board & Staff Contact Information President • Dee Carter • 8 Jeffrey Road, Aldan, PA 19018 • 610-394-0502 EST • president@gammasigmasigma.org Vice President • Keli Connor • 2205 New Garden Road, Apt 3506, Greensboro, NC, 27410 • 336-207-1036 EST • vicepresident@gammasigmasigma.org Secretary • Joyce Brooks • 8100 Stone, Apt. 1903, Houston, TX 77061 • 713-591-0358 CST • secretary@gammasigmasigma.org Treasurer • Karen Erickson • 27970 Lakelawn Drive, Lindstrom, MN 55045 • 651-274-5352 CST • treasurer@gammasigmasigma.org Service Director • Deb Folsom • 2450 121st Avenue, Clear Lake, MN 55319 • 320-743-6036 CST • servicedirector@gammasigmasigma.org Membership Director • Karen Kerr • 5683 Gold Creek Bay, Hickory, NC 28601 • 703-994-1137 EST• membership@gammasigmasigma.org Alumni Director • Judi Mecsics • 43706 Hamilton Chapel Terrace, Ashburn, VA 20148 • 703-858-0626 EST • alumnidirector@gammasigmasigma.org Program Director • Sharon Brice • 3622 Truesdale Drive • Missouri City, TX 77459 • 281-438-8420 CST • program@gammasigmasigma.org Marketing Director • Aurelia Spaulding • 1948 Sandra St. Apt. C. • Bowling Green, KY 42101 • 270-779-9509 CST • marketing@gammasigmasigma.org District I Director • Athena Westin • 328 N. 53rd Ave. W. #6 Duluth MN 55807 • 612-990-0785 CST • district1@gammasigmasigma.org District II Director • Alyshia Inks • 3251 May Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15234 • 412-983-8121 EST • district2@gammasigmasigma.org District III Director • Pat Saul • 19 Kevadus Circle, Chester, VT 05143 • 802-875-6651 EST • district3@gammasigmasigma.org District IV Director • Mariza Shavelle • 1597 Shady Glen Road, Downington, PA 19335 • 610-772-1214 EST • district4@gammasigmasigma.org District V Director • Abbey Dyer • 627 Whispering Hills Drive, Nashville, TN 37211 • 615-423-1697 CST • district5@gammasigmasigma.org District VI Director • Ranita Williams • 57 Forsyth Street, Condo 5H, Atlanta, GA 30303 • 404-803-5043 EST • district6@gammasigmasigma.org District VII Director • Celeste McNeil • 3545 Blodgett, #2105, Houston, TX 77004 • 832-453-4039 CST • district7@gammasigmasigma.org District VIII Director • Meika Sherrer • 8565 Wilcrest, Houston TX 77099 • 281-933-1176 CST • district8@gammasigmasigma.org Parliamentarian • Lynne Mowers • 405 Winchester Road, E Syracuse, NY 13057 • 315-463-0196 EST • parliamentarian@gammasigmasigma.org Administrative Assistant • Jo Charest • PO Box 248, Rindge, NH 03461-0248 • 800-585-7509 EST • Fax 216-803-3065 • aa@gammasigmasigma.org Perspectives Editor • Ashley Pile • 245 Clearbrook Ct., Cranberry Twp., PA 15237 • 412-874-5551 EST • perspectives@gammasigmasigma.org Webmaster • Aurelia Spaulding • 1948 Sandra St. Apt. C. • Bowling Green, KY 42101 • 270-779-9509 CST • webmaster@gammasigmasigma.org National Archivist • Bea Segal • 611 Malcolm Crescent, Charlottesville, VA 22902 • 434-979-6271 EST • archivist@gammasigmasigma.org Database Coordinator • Karen Kerr • 4683 Gold Creek Bay, Hickory, NC 28601 • 703-994-1137 EST • database@gammasigmasigma.org Convention Chair • Lelar Corbett • 9948 Dryden Lane, Plano, TX 75025 • 214-499-0512 CST • 2009convention@gammasigmasigma.org Nominating Chair • Crystal Radabaugh • 15947 Flotilla Trail, Apple Valley, MN • 952-215-5019 CST • nominating@gammasigmasigma.org
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Service News and Communication Pointers Project I.M.P.A.C.T. And What It Means To You
By Deb Folsom, National Service Director
Project I.M.P.A.C.T. is an area that is sometimes confusing, even to “seasoned” alumni. As stated in the Staff, the area is to provide for two service project areas selected by the Convention for special emphasis during the time between Conventions. This acronym stands for "Individuals Making Progress Across Communities Together." As the nomination form for the area shows, it is to be a very small area or organization for which Gamma Sigma Sigma members can IMPACT and for them to be able to really feel a difference during the two years we are working towards their organization or goal. Over the past few biennium’s we have gotten away from the true meaning of this area. The reasons for this are very noble. We want to try and help as many organizations as we can and do not want to feel like we are not supporting their causes. It also tends to make it easier for chapters to get “points” towards a particular area for national awards if the Project I.M.P.A.C.T. area is so large, such as with Chronic Diseases, that almost every service project would count under it. But, we must, as an organization come back to the true meaning of the area and try and IMPACT an organization as the members at the 1981 National Convention intended it to do. I am looking forward to members submitting nominations for this that can help continue our goals of service while expanding members potential. As the nomination form for the area states, we are looking for an organization or agency that would have at least five service ideas we, as members in both collegiate and alumni chapters and alumni-at-large, can do for them. A copy of the nomination form is available on our website or you can contact me directly and I would be happy to send a copy to you. Remember that all the service we do IMPACT’s others!
National Service Hours for 2007
Communication
By Deb Folsom, National Service Director
Submitted by: Lynne Mowers, National Parliamentarian
Working with the chapters over the last year has been a great experience. It is great to see how many different projects chapters do. I have complied the hours chapters have turned in on their service reports and have them listed below. New this year is a newly revised Service Manual that will help chapters and individual members come up with service projects in a number of different areas. Check it out on our website under the Service area at www.gammasigmasigma.org.
Communication takes many forms and is vital to the success of any organization. It can be a powerful tool or a stepping stone to disorganization, depending on where it comes from and how it is used. Gamma Sig has several methods of communicating official organization news. Our website, gammasigmasigma.org is the easiest, most up to date place for sorority news. The mass mailings are another approved source for info. And the third option is the chapter email we set up for each chapter through our national website. If you want to know what’s going on in Gamma Sig, these are the top 3 options. As we have learned, when we Google our sorority name we are apt to get a large number of options to select from. There are groups that may have posted videos, songs, text, history, traditions or other things that do not accurately represent Gamma Sigma Sigma. Again – the one website that contains approved information for your use is our national website. If you are looking for the right answer for something, please always use the national website rather than relying on any other website. They may have not had a chance to update their page and it won’t be helpful if you get old, outdated or inaccurate information. Recently we’ve discovered that many members are turning to other online resources for information. While areas such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and MySpace are popular, they are not avenues for approved sorority communication. Neither are online blogs or message boards. This is not to say that everything you read there will be incorrect, however there is a better than average chance that what you are reading is not the whole story. Members of the NBD participate in these online resources on a personal basis. As your elected officers, we all realize that there are many ways to “get the word out,” and it is much too easy for misinterpretation over these online areas. We encourage the use of these online tools for networking, idea sharing and keeping in touch. However, we can’t stress enough that the approved sources for our sorority information are the national website, the mass mailings and the email accounts we support for your chapter. So when you want the right answer, go to the right source. Check out your national website – www.gammasigmasigma.org. You’re sure to get the answer you need, and if you still have questions call or e-mail a member of the National Board or Staff. We’re here for you!
Hours Performed by Members 23,433 by Alumni 19,365 by Pledges/MITʼs
75,532 by Collegiate Members
Hours Performed For Service Partners 609 for MADD 1,575 for the March of Dines 2,915 for the American Red Cross
8,898 for the American Cencer Society
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Congratulations! • To our new alumni chapter - the Dogwood Alumni Chapter! • To our two new alumni colonies - the Magnolia Alumni and the Central Florida Alumni! • To our new collegiate chapter- Eta Eta at the University of North Texas (Denton, TX)! • To our new collegiate colony - Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN)!
Welcome to the NDB!
Congratulations to our new District 1 Director, Athena Westin (left) and our new District 5 Director, Abbey Dyer (right)!
Upcoming Events
OCTOBER 25 Houston Bayou City Alumni Chapter Maroon & White Ball, "An Evening in the Orient” @ 6:52p.m. Tickets are $25 (pre-sale) $30 (at the door). For more information, e-mail: houstonbayoualums@gammasigmasigma.org.
NOVEMBER 1 Beta Sigma will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary at Western Kentucky University this fall. All mem bers of Beta Sigma since 1967 are invited to the an niversary lunch on Saturday, November 1, 2008 from 10:00am-12:00pm in the Downing University Center Cupola Room. Family and friends are also welcome. A wonderful program is planned. Tshirts orders will begin in September for $15.00, and lunch will be $7.00 payable upon entrance to the lunch. For more information, contact betasigma@gammasigmasigma.org or bluegrassalums@gammasigmasigma.org or visit our myspace page at www.myspace.com/betasig ma1968.
New Alumni! Is this your first issue of Perspectives since becoming an alumni member? If you would like to continue to get Perspectives via postal mail, please e-mail: database@gammasigmasigma.org
For Your Information Are you a GSS alum that lives in NC? Do you want to return to your GSS roots of community service? Are you are interested in becoming a part of an alumni colony in the Tarheel state? If so, please contact Karen Kerr at karenkerr@ecupirates.com!
Have you moved or changed your name? If so, please contact: database@gammasigmasigma.org
The deadline for the Winter 2009 issue of Perspectives is December 18, 2008!
Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority C/O Karen Kerr, Database Coordinator 5683 Gold Creek Bay Hickory, NC 28601
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
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