Philanthropy
The sorority's official philanthropy is the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation, which supports the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). The Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation also provides scholarships and educational grants, as well as leadership programming to collegiate and alumnae members. The NKF has been Phi Sigma Sigma's primary philanthropic endeavor since 1971 because kidney disease was a leading health concern for women at that time. Since then, Phi Sigma Sigma has actively helped educate women, men and children about kidney disease, as well as the importance of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. In the recent past, the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation was a major sponsor of the National Kidney Foundation U.S. Transplant Games, a national Olympics-style event where organ-donor recipients competed in various athletic competitions, thereby highlighting the need for, and success of, organ donations and transplantation.
Following September 11, 2001, the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation established the Twin Ideals Fund to provide assistance to disaster victims. Named for Phi Sigma Sigma's twin ideals - to promote the brotherhood of man and alleviate the world's pain - the fund has contributed to aid organizations in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina.
Each year, thousands of Phi Sigma Sigma sisters participate in a philanthropic fundraising event known as "Rock-a-Thon," where they spend a marathon day gathering donations as they sit in rocking chairs located in highly public places, such as on campus, in malls and at community events. This event raises tens of thousands of dollars annually for the Foundation and NKF.
Collegiate and alumnae chapters also participate in various philanthropic events benefiting their communities. Examples of these include walking for multiple medical causes, gathering food and supplies for U.S. troops, coordinating local reading programs, fundraising so underprivileged women can attend college, providing shoes to needy children, and assisting Habitat for Humanity.
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Famous quotes containing the word philanthropy:
“I shall not be forward to think him mistaken in his method who quickest succeeds to liberate the slave. I speak for the slave when I say that I prefer the philanthropy of Captain Brown to that philanthropy which neither shoots me nor liberates me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“... the hey-day of a woman’s life is on the shady side of fifty, when the vital forces heretofore expended in other ways are garnered in the brain, when their thoughts and sentiments flow out in broader channels, when philanthropy takes the place of family selfishness, and when from the depths of poverty and suffering the wail of humanity grows as pathetic to their ears as once was the cry of their own children.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“Almost every man we meet requires some civility,—requires to be humored; he has some fame, some talent, some whim of religion or philanthropy in his head that is not to be questioned, and which spoils all conversation with him. But a friend is a sane man who exercises not my ingenuity, but me.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)