My entire life, up until now, I have grown up attending private catholic schools. I have grown up being a part of an environment that requires service work, giving back to the community and supporting local charities. Helping others has always been a part of me, and it always will. I knew going into college that I wanted to be a part of a community full of loving and caring people, which is why I decided to join a sorority. At first, I was hesitant because I was only accustomed to small, local fundraisers and service work. I wasn’t used to extravagant philanthropy events that I repeatedly witnessed on social media posted by various sororities. I almost thought it was impossible for a group of girls to be so active in their communities and constantly working towards the overall goal of giving back. Now, however, I am an enthusiastic, proud member of Florida State University’s Gamma Phi chapter of Alpha Phi.
Alpha Phi was one of the first women’s fraternities to institute a Foundation. This foundation was instated to demonstrate the fraternities love and spirit for philanthropy, specifically for cardiac aid. Internationally, The Alpha Phi Foundation raises millions of dollars each year to help support research focused on women’s heart care and raise awareness for women’s heart disease. At Florida State University, we call this philanthropy Women’s Heart Health.
I have never been a part of an organization that is just as ardent about philanthropy as I am, which is why I love doing what I do ten times more. No matter how small or large or international or local a charity event is, it still has a humungous impact on the individuals benefiting from the cause. Also, philanthropic events go beyond just helping charities, it opens up more opportunities to become more involved and educated. The Alpha Phi Foundation has inspired me to develop more leadership experience, supporting those in need and my sisters, improving women’s heart health, form more personal relationships with local charities, and becoming more educated about the true value of philanthropy. Being able to put a smile on people’s faces is something I want to continue to keep doing with my sorority and throughout my life.
One of Alpha Phi’s spring philanthropy events is Heart Race. Heart Race is a 5k across campus that raises money for the Alpha Phi Foundation and the Tallahassee Memorial Heart and Vascular center. Fifty percent of the money goes to the Alpha Phi Foundation and the other fifty percent goes to the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. As a chapter, every girl will be split up into groups of 3 or 4 to work together on sponsorships and fundraising. Working together in small groups allows every girl to participate and engaged in Heart Race. Our philanthropy differs from other events on campus because we have a direct relationship with the hospital. Also, we have an Alpha Phi Foundation wing at the hospital because we are able to contribute so much towards heart health. Last year, Alpha Phi raised seventeen thousand dollars, so the goal this year is to raise twenty thousand dollars.
Our philanthropy makes such an impact in the Tallahassee community because of the dedicated people working year around to make sure our philanthropy is a success. Our VP of philanthropy is in charge of Heart Race and contributes a lot of her time to planning the events and making sure they run as planned. For my interview, I decided to interview the VP of Community Relations, Kelsey Rodgers. Last year, she was the VP of Philanthropy and was in charge of Heart Race. Before the interview, I had no prior knowledge of Heart Race and what it entailed. The interview took place on Monday, February 19, 2018 at four in the afternoon at the Alpha Phi house. The entire interview was very informational and you could tell that Kelsey is super passionate about our philanthropy. At the beginning of the interview, Kelsey gave a brief summary of what Heart Race is and how it contributes to our community. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Heart Race is a 5k run across campus that raises money for women’s heart health. All of the proceeds go to the Alpha Phi Foundation and the Tallahassee Memorial Heart and Vascular Center.
Throughout the process leading up to Heart Race, Kelsey was responsible for organizing the runners, the sponsorships, and organizing other events that would take place during the week of the race. She mentioned how last year Alpha Phi had over 25 different sponsorships for Heart Race and plans on having more for this upcoming race. She also mentioned that the week of the race is called “Heart Week” and is full of activities that engages all of the sisters and FSU. Heart Week includes a share it night, food events at the house, and other activities to raise morale. After hearing about Heart Week, I am really excited to be able to participate in the activities throughout the week. Kelsey also wants to make sure to add something new this year to make the event more unique. For instance, she had the idea of making the 5k run similar to the color run or having a glow in the dark run.
Kelsey’s overall goal for this upcoming Heart Race is to have the community more involved and reach the goal of twenty thousand dollars. Last year Alpha Phi raised seventeen thousand dollars so I personally think twenty thousand is doable! Kelsey is a little hesitant about the goal because with the suspension, a lot of philanthropy events are going to suffer because of the lack of motivation throughout PanHellenic and the greek community but she remains optimistic. At the end of the interview, Kelsey mentioned that Heart Race is taking place on Sunday April 22nd and there is a $12 entry fee. We are both very excited for this upcoming Heart Race.
I also interviewed the current Director of Philanthropy, Brooke McKinnis. I followed up with some of the questions I asked Kelsey and wanted to hear about Heart Race from her perspective. With Brooke being in charge of Heart Race this year, I asked her what she is doing differently with Heart Race this year. She mentioned how last year there were issues with the course and people were confused on where to go, so she really wants to make sure everyone knows their jobs, people are at their designated stations, and that the path is marked. She also added that for this year, she is planning on adding some colored powdered at the beginning of the race to add a twist. For the most part, Brooke is focused on improving the logistics of the race and making sure it runs as smoothly as possible. She also went into detail about the sponsorships we are responsible for. She talked about how we are divided into groups and as a group are responsible for raising one hundred dollars. This allows us to reach out to local businesses or family businesses for donations and really engage them in our philanthropy. If a business donates at least one hundred dollars, their business logo gets put on the back of our Heart Race shirts! We raise the majority of the money through the sponsorships so they play a key role in Heart Race.
Brooke also elaborated on Heart Week and the events that are going to be taking place. This year is a little different than last year because with the suspension, we are only able to have two days of events, with one including Heart Race. She is planning on having a food event the Thursday before Heart Race but she is still unsure of the exact food we are going to have. Usually students buy tickets to the event or show up and buy tickets at the door. Brooke said that last year a lot of people attended the food event so she is hoping for the same turn out this year. She definitely wants to advertise our food event and Heart Race more on social media and get as many people as we can to attend. Our marketing team is still working on a design logo for the shirt, but she said they are currently working on designing digital logos/templates to put on our social media. I asked Brooke about the importance of promoting our events on our social media and she said it is crucial that we use Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat to advertise Heart Race. In addition to having logos templates designed for social media, she added that this year we are actually hiring a photographer to come to the house two weeks before Heart Race is take pictures. She is going to set booking times for everyone to sign up for a block of time with their friends to have their picture taken. The main idea is to have us pictured in work-out clothes with red powder in the background (to look like the race itself). With these professional pictures, she wants us to use them as a social media tactic to draw attention towards our philanthropy.