I can honestly say I would not be who I am if I went through college without joining my Greek organization. In light of my organizations philanthropy event coming up this week I have been thinking a lot about how much of an impact the organization had on me.
Through my four years as a Chi Omega I have met my best friends and future bridesmaids. I have formed a beautiful family that I can literally call upon at anytime.
Being in a Greek organization is so much more than just parties, formals, and mixers. Obviously I have incredible memories made through events like that. But when I really think about what my organization means to me, I think about the lives that I have been fortunate enough to impact through The Make A Wish Foundation. I truly learned the value of life. I can now comprehend what it means to make a dream come true and put a smile on the face of someone who has no hope.
My junior year of undergraduate school, I was elected Chi Omega Women's Fraternity's director of philanthropy. I organized our third annual Wings For Wishes event at Austin Peay State University. In a nutshell it's an all day event where local businesses, organizations, and surrounding communities come together for all you can eat wings and silent auction to raise money for The Make A Wish Foundation. It took countless hours and lots of hard work from my sisters. Never did I think it would pay off in the ways it did. After the money had been raised our chapter was able to work directly with families to grant the wishes of terminally ill children in our area.
I can remember balling my eyes out on several occasions when I was able to work with Russ. Russ was our wish child (who was actually our age). He was spending his life after college protecting our country as a marine. Unfortunately, he fell ill and was diagnosed with leukemia. Not only did he have to go through that battle, he also had to have almost every major joint in his body replaced because his chemo treatments were so damaging to his body. Yet through all of this, he was still such a positive person. It made my daily struggles meaningless. It put life in perspective.
Until you can actually work that closely with the people your organization impacts, you will never know just how valuable you are to them. The things we do as Greeks effect people's lives. It gives them and their family hope. It brings them closer and inevitably brings you closer to the people you love.
Being a Chi Omega and working with Make A Wish changed who I am. It made my heart bigger and stretched my hands out further to help others. The values on which my organization is based mean more to me than ever before. It is so easy to see now how gifted and blessed we are. We only get one life on this pain stricken world. Being a Chi Omega has made me leader and shown me how easy it is to be the person that can ease pain, even for just a moment.
With that, It's so easy for organizations to forget what philanthropy events are really about. It's so easily turned into a battle between each other. People get so flustered when they don't win an event or something isn't done the way they think it should be done. Competition is a good thing but when it comes to philanthropy events the only competition you should worry about is the one with yourself. What can YOU do to help more? What else can YOU do to make a difference? If you put things into that type of perspective the reward is so much greater and you can fully understand the impact you and your sisterhood or brotherhood can have on this world.
Good luck to my beautiful sisters this week. Each one of you has what it takes to make a difference. Each one of you were chosen because you have the characteristics that upheld the quality woman our founders stood for. I am always proud of the things y'all accomplish and I enjoy seeing the legacy of our symphony live on through you.
"to work earnestly, to speak kindly, to act sincerely"
LICO
Until next time,
KND
My name is Kendyl Davis and I have a lot to say