A Message from Mary Alice Classen Tinari, Emma Harper Turner Fund Committee Chair

Dear Sisters,

As we approach the close of an oftentimes arduous year, now is the time to reflect on all our blessings, as well as the ways we have persevered. This year brought unforeseen challenges, and many of us learned just how drastically the world can change in such a short period of time. My career as a nurse in a cancer-care hospital has shown me how quickly life can take a turn with lasting effects. I know firsthand the difficulty of coping and enduring when the water seems too high to bear.

My work also has shaped my personal understanding and sense of resilience. My own retirement in June was partially influenced by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America. The silver lining of retirement is being able to commit more of myself to assisting our Foundation. As the committee chair for the Emma Harper Turner Fund, our Foundation’s designated fund to provide confidential financial assistance to sisters in dire need, I witness the resilience and compassion of our members and donors during some of life’s greatest challenges.

Emma Harper Turner Fund grant requests come from members like you – women who are facing unforeseen hardships and have turned to their sisters for assistance, compassion and understanding. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we never know what is to come or when we might be the one reaching out to ask for help. Many of us are blessed to not face this kind of need; while we feel grateful for what we have, I also call on you to spread compassion and support for those facing elevated hardships.

I find myself relating so deeply to the women whose grant requests I review. Although I’ve never been a recipient myself, I’ve faced my own challenges and helped many patients, friends and sisters as they face a daunting obstacle. Whether it’s an illness, natural disaster or pandemic, we all cope with these challenges the best we can. To ensure we’re able to provide this support in the future, I ask anyone who can, to give to your Foundation with your sisters in mind. Our Foundation can only give what we receive, so when you give consider that a Pi Phi sister is on the other end expressing gratitude for your generosity.

Through the Friendship Fund and the Emma Harper Turner Fund, our Foundation is able to help Pi Phi sisters in need — and every gift counts. While gifts to the Emma Harper Turner Fund directly fund grants, gifts to the Friendship Fund help our Foundation continue its critical operations including supporting this and other programmatic efforts. Your support makes this possible, and I’m grateful for all of you and the Lifelong Commitment you show to Pi Beta Phi.

In Pi Phi,

Mary Alice Classen Tinari, North Carolina Beta

Emma Harper Turner Fund Committee Chair