Posts Tagged ‘Philanthropy’
UMass Supports Haiti
Welcome back for the Spring semester! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration and I look forward to seeing all of you soon. As you know, the beginning of a new semester is a big time for PiKapp, it is the beginning of a new season of recruiting, a season when we have traditionally recruited many of our best brothers!
This first week, I hope to see many of you at the recruitment table helping to find the best a brightest guys on campus to join our fraternity. I also hope to see you, because Brother Slocum and myself have been working on an awareness project for the recovery efforts in Haiti. Vice Archon Bliss gave us the green light to use some of our tabling space to set up the “UMass supports Haiti” project. This will consist of a tally board where anyone who has texted “Haiti” to 90999 can come and show us their text message and we will add $10 to our school total. The idea is that we will see how generous UMass students have been in giving money to the Red Cross and supporting Haiti.
I think it will be a great project, and please contact me if you are interested in advertising outside of the table (i.e. fliers, classroom announcements, visiting RSO/Greek meetings). Chops will be available at the table, and I ask that if you are there that you help to hand them out to as many people as possible.
Most importantly, please join the Facebook Group “Have you texted ‘Haiti’ to 90999?” and invite all of your UMass friends. I think I have invited all the PiKapps, so you should have an invite. If not, the link is on my facebook page.
Thank you so much for your help, and I look forward to the start of a great semester!
Love you all,
Sloan
Register for UDance
Please register for UDance if you have not done so yet. They are strongly urging us to have our chapters register and so far only three of us have signed up. Also, I know how hard it is to fundraise, especially since many of us are fundraising for the Journey of Hope, but please try to raise some money from the Children’s Miracle Network. The steering committee is really trying their hardest to put UDance together. Register for UDance now »
Please see below the email I received regarding UDance:
This week is extremely important for UDance. Encourage your chapters to register for UDance. EVERYONE MUST REGISTER!
Things to keep in mind, and inform your chapters about:
- REGISTER ONLINE
- There will be a $5 registration fee THE DAY OF UDANCE at the door. So make sure EVERYONE brings $5 with them.
- You all are responsible for making sure that your chapters and their teammates are working together to make up a dance that will be performed at 8pm at UDance. Morale captains do NOT have to be in the dance, you just need to coordinate everyone together.
- RAISE MONEY! Inform your chapters that if EVERYONE in Greek Life raised at least $100, we could raise over $80,000!
Best,
Michael R DiPietro
Secretary
A Capella Invitational Concert
This Sunday, from 3-5PM, Theta Mu is hosting our first A Capella Invitational Concert. We are expecting 5 groups from the area and one from Stony Brook, NY.
- Where – Campus Center Auditorium
- When – Sunday, Nov 15th, 3-5PM
- How Much - $5 with 5-college ID / $7 standard
We will be accepting donations and all proceeds will go to our national philanthropy, Push America. The participating groups include:
- v-8’s from Mount Holyoke College
- Northamptones from Northampton High School
- Doowop Shop from UMass
- Vocal Suspects from UMass
- Smithenpoofs from Smith College
- Noteables from Smith College
- High C’s from Stony Brook University
Shelter Sunday
On Sunday, October 18, the organization Shelter Sunday is hosting an event where volunteers will canvass the Amherst area, door-to-door, and ask town residents for donations. The money donated goes to 5 local public services like soup kitchens and shelter services within the Amherst, Pelham, and Hadley areas. Our fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, has been asked to organize a team of five people led by a team captain for a day of service. There is no limit on the number of teams. The Shelter Sunday organization will provide us with the necessary training and materials required on the day of the event.
Shelter Sunday organization is a one-day, door-to-door solicitation, organized and run by Amherst Friends for the Homeless, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. This event has been ongoing for the past 21 years so in a large majority of the cases, residents will have a check ready even before you approach them at their door. Shelter Sunday representatives have also stressed on dedication and enthusiasm in the program amongst volunteers.
At this past chapter meeting, a sign-up sheet was sent around and these are the men who have already agreed to be a part of the service:
- Brandon Kurtich
- Josh Slocum
- Dave Paquette
- Rusty Brown
- Blaine Stillerman
- Jitesh Khushalani
- Paul Levitan
Volunteers are required to arrive at Fine Arts Center at 12:30 on October 18. Once they arrive and register, they will be briefed on their duties and dispatched to their designated routes. Once a team finishes their route, they will return to Fine Arts Center and get debriefed. The Shelter Sunday representatives have also added they will be offering gift certificates from local stores as a recognition of our hard work.
If you would like to be a part of the teams, please e-mail Jitesh at at jiteshmk@gmail.com or Paul at plevitan@student.umass.edu. For more info on Shelter Sunday, please visit www.sheltersunday.org.
Journey of Hope & Build America Arrival
This summer was full of tradition. Again, the Journey of Hope and Build America volunteers touched the lives of people with disabilities and their surrounding communities. They truly lived the mission of Push America and we couldn’t be more proud.
The Theta Mu chapter was honored to be represented by three individuals this summer, Mike Keough (JOH Cyclist), Andrew Moffett (JOH Crew), and NIck Druar (BAM). 13 Theta Mu PiKapps traveled to Washington DC to celebrate their accomplishments and arrival with brothers, friends, and family from around the country.
Check out photos of the Journey of Hope & Build America arrival on our Flickr photostream.
Journey of Hope Letters: Mike Keough
Hello All,
I just wanted to write to give you an update on my cross country ride so far. We left from Seattle what felt like months ago and have been on the road 26 days having pedaled through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and now Colorado. We are staying in a hotel (!) for two nights here in Denver – a welcome change from gym floors. I am enjoying cycling much more than I thought I would, which is a plus, considering how much we do of it. Just last week we rode 128 miles Casper, WY to Wheatland, WY in one day! My injuries have been mild and include a pair of chronically stiff knees, and some sun blisters which I I got crossing the Wyoming desert – did you know Wyoming had a desert? I didn’t. We have seen some amazing sights – Yellowstone at dawn (and at 32 degrees) and the Tetons have been my favorites.
We have also been privileged to have the opportunity to promote disability awareness in the communities we visit by putting on Kids on the Block puppet shows and making friendship visits with organizations who provide opportunities to community members with disabilities. Just last night we rode with Special Olympics cyclists in an event called Pedal for Pennies. I partnered with Adela, a local cyclist, to claim the women’s record in the event – 6 laps around the lake! After the feast of a dinner we had (my stomach has also expanded to 5 times its normal size) we cleared the tables out of the lake-side pavilion for a dance, where our team serenaded the female participants with hits by the Backstreet Boys and the Jonas Brothers.
I feel privileged to to have the opportunity to participate in the Journey of Hope, and thank you for your continued support. I hope you are enjoying your summer, especially if you are enduring monsoon season in MA.
All the best,
Mike Keough
To keep tabs on the team check out their daily journal entries or check out their photos from the road on Flickr.