READ > LEAD > ACHIEVE
Turning Talk Into Action
Missouri Alpha JACKIE SMITH WOODWARD (seated, second from right) and Missouri Beta SUSIE MILLER CHILDERS (standing, seventh from right) were among the Pi Phis who gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, for Literacy Advocacy Project training in February 2019. Jackie and Susie were later asked to chair the Raleigh Fraternity Day of Service Signature Event.
Pi Beta Phis are no strangers to the concept of advocacy — it’s woven throughout Pi Phi’s history. Our establishment and support of Pi Beta Phi Settlement School in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, was the first national philanthropic effort of any National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) group. In addition to our efforts in Gatlinburg, members have long supported causes important to them in their own communities. As reported in the Summer 1960 issue of The Arrow, Pi Phi alumnae had raised more than $11,000 for the Settlement School and over $17,500 in local projects, and provided more than a million hours of community service, during the previous year. Today, that commitment lives on through Read > Lead > Achieve. Since launching the program in 2011, Pi Phi has given more than $4.5 million to support literacy causes, donated more than one million books and impacted more than a million lives. Opportunities to participate, donate and advocate through Read > Lead > Achieve initiatives give all members a way to visibly demonstrate their values and respond where need exists, both on a national level and closer to home.
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In early 2019, Pi Beta Phi hosted a Literacy Advocacy Project training event in Raleigh, North Carolina. Alumnae and collegians in the region have a strong tradition of literacy work and felt energized at the prospect of doing more for their communities. Missouri Alpha JACKIE SMITH WOODWARD and Missouri Beta SUSIE MILLER CHILDERS were among the Pi Phis who attended the event — and when the conversation shifted to the possibility of doing something big, both women raised their hands to help. A little more than a year later, the pair helped to give 20,000 books to children throughout North Carolina at the Fraternity Day of Service Signature Event in Raleigh. “I recall how much passion was in the room that day,” said Jackie. “But, I’m a doer. I remember thinking, ‘Okay, what are we going to do next?’ The possibility of hosting a Signature Event is a rallying point, an action step to galvanize people.” With the encouragement of Grand Vice President Alumnae AMY LORENZEN SOUTHERLAND, South Dakota Alpha, Pi Phis in the area officially applied to bring a
