ervice is another one of the four standards of excellence for Alpha Phi. Giving back is important to us as a sisterhood. This year we collectively volunteered over 1600 hours of our time to many areas of the local and global community.
Throughout the year, sisters have volunteered to participate in other sororities' and fraternities' philanthropies. Although our philanthropy is important to us, we believe in supporting other organizations in order to network and establish great relationships. Their causes are important to us as well.
You will find sisters volunteering at the SPCA, White Burch Retirement Home, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the local soup kitchen, Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Choices, the Fairfield Center's Valley Plane Pull, and Children's Museum (if you're an education major, this is the perfect opportunity to practice working with children), and other organizations. The Greek community also comes together throughout the year to sponsor events such as Trick or Treating or Easter Egg Hunting on Greek Row for children of local families.
We also organize many joint community service events with JMU fraternities. Most recently, we carved pumpkins at a local retirement home with Delta Sigma Phi to get into the Halloween spirit! Another memorable event was dying and hunting Easter eggs with Sigma Phi Epsilon at The Arc, which is a non-profit organization that helps people with mental and physical disabilities.
The majority of our volunteer hours are served by sisters who are selected to participate in JMU's Alternative Spring Break Programs, where they have the opportunity to travel to different parts of the US and even South America to help those in need.
This winter break, many of our sisters are attending Sigma Phi Epsilon's relief trip to Welch, WV. They will complete a week-long community service project of helping rebuild the runned-down community, doing Christmas activities with local children and families, and spreading the cheer of the holidays to those in need.
Last year, sisters participated in the Harrisonburg-sponored "Big Event". More than 1,000 locals and JMU students came together for a day of service. Volunteers collected trash along the highways, painted park benches, and worked together to improve Harrisonburg. This day was historic for the area and quite rewarding. Through helping others, our sisterly bonds grew stronger in knowing that we could truly make a difference.
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