The Importance of Philanthropy, By Jessica Rose

It’s the end of February. Claudia and I are trying to finalize every detail for our winter philanthropy, Spagammi. As the philanthropy chairs of Gamma Phi Beta, it is our job to dot every “i” and cross every “t.” But in the midst of planning the biggest event of winter quarter, I begin to think about why we are doing this? Who does this benefit? How does this event help us as a sorority? It is too many times that sorority girls and fraternity boys don’t understand the true meaning of philanthropy and its importance to Greek life, as a whole.

The idea of creating a group with one major section that is devoted to charity work is the idea of philanthropy in the Greek life system. In most cases, fraternities and sororities are matched up with a charitable organization that the chapter does fundraising and volunteer work for.  They do this work so that they can be positive role models on campus and create a window of opportunity for volunteer work for college students. One way that doing philanthropy work in a sorority or fraternity is different than just doing charity work through another campus organization is that one is able to bond with their brothers and sisters through doing work for the good of the community. One major part of Greek life is going to exchanges and doing other fun activities that do not really benefit any major cause. Charity work is a way to incorporate a fun activity, but also benefit the community.

One major downfall about philanthropy in Greek life is that most members of the chapter do not look forward to charity events and look at them as mandatory. In my eyes, this is the biggest problem in Greek life. One of the main reasons why I personally joined a sorority was to be engaged in a group that knew how to have fun but also knew the importance of volunteer and charity work. A chapter should not be based on partying and exchanges; a chapter should be based on bonding through community service. A major way that this issue can be solved is though the support and acknowledgement of community members. When one feels like they are truly making a difference in the lives of others, one can thrive off of the work they do.

With this said, I would like to describe the importance of Spagammi. Spagammi is a campus-wide spaghetti dinner that Gamma Phi Beta puts on every year. This event is open to all DU community members, rather than just Greek life. We feel that this is a great way for the Gamma Phi Beta girls to be looked up to as role models in the DU community and bond with others through charity work. It is also important to open this event to the DU community because everyone is making a difference, rather than strictly Gamma Phi Beta.

Knowing that the downfall of Greek life is the lack of excitement for philanthropy events, Claudia and I knew that we had to make this event special and interesting for all of the girls. This year, we decided to start exploring new charitable organizations to donate the proceeds to. We do a lot of fundraising for our current philanthropy, Campfire USA, so we decided this would be a good way for Gamma Phi Beta to reach out to another charitable organization in the community and possibly excite the girls with this new idea. This year we will be donating all of the proceeds to help grant one girl’s wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado. This process has helped our girls remove themselves from the downfall of Greek life and become enthusiastic about Spagammi and future philanthropy events. Planning this event has made me proud to be apart of an organization that truly cares about the community and being sisters with girls who are willing to spend hours of their free time to help better the community.

But Greek life still needs your encouragement…now it’s your turn. By attending Gamma Phi Beta’s Spagammi, you are not only granting a special girl’s wish, but you are shedding a positive light on Greek life, as a whole. All it takes to improve the image and motivation of Greek life members is your participation and support. Your enthusiasm will only make members of Greek life thrive to do more community work. Philanthropy is an important element to not only Greek life, but also the DU community, in general. Your participation is crucial in keeping the presence the philanthropy alive at the University of Denver.