I Need All Of Your Help
 

I know all you alpha gam girls out there will help me. My chapter Theta Nu at VCU... went through some TOUGH stuff last semester. I'm trying so hard to keep on my toes and keep the spirit alive..... What I need from you... is I need ideas for Philanthropy night at rush... I have honestly RUN INTO A COMPLETE brick wall. Do any of youhave a better idea then putting candy in bags? PLEASE .... it may sound stupid to you but I really care about leaving a good impression. PLEASE HELP:eek:

alphagamfrk,
Hi! I know from many others on this board you are looking for lots of new ideas from collegians and alumnae on the board. :) BUT I have to ask... have you contacted your Recruitment Consultant? She has a ton of ideas (new and old) that will keep that spirit alive!

Well....
 

We just got all new advisors... I feel really lost. They have no ideas because everyone just left us on a lim... all by ourselves.:rolleyes:

I will PM you with some information and help...

Also, I am sure many will post some great thoughts on recruitment event ideas!

ETA: Some of my favorite ideas:

Bookmarks
School supply boxes for local schools
Care packages for shelters
Decorated hats for chemotherapy patients
Sugar-free lollipops in a decorated flower pot
IV bag covers for children in hospitals

The above are all that I have seen done effectively and can be planned with a small amount of time. Best advice - make sure if there is a chance of a mess you have aprons for yourself and your guests! :) Recruitment guests don't want to get dirty at events!

one year for our philanthropy round we made tie-dye (sp?) t-shirts and our new member class took them over to the local JDF chapter to give to the kids there (or you can also save them for a diabetes friendly trick or treat or easter egg hunt!)

to accomplish this, we had each member of the chapter purchase a pack (or two depending on chapter size) of three white undershirts in childrens' sizes from someplace like wal-mart or k-mart and bring them to work week. this cut down on chapter costs. otherwise the supplies are pretty inexpensive --> dyes, a pack of rubber bands, a couple boxes of rubber gloves, 3 plastic disposable bowls for each of the colors you use (usually red, yellow/buff, and green!!!!!), and some home-made aprons with AGD letters on them to protect the guests clothes

the chapter members had professionally made tie-dyed shirts to match but it isn't a necessity.

if there was still down time after dyeing the shirts, the sisters and guests also made cards for the kids or checked out the scrapbook for the previous year.

i really liked this project because it's a good way to emphasize that the lives of children with diabetes don't completely revolve around food and not being able to eat sugar, that they also are just regular kids, and they like regular gifts. plus tie-dye is pretty darn cool!

just a thought...

i was just coming to post that my senior year we did tie-dyed shirts and it was so much fun. all the girls going through rush loved it. the lc that we had for recruitment that year was the one who suggested it, since we were at a complete loss of what to do.

only problem with Tie-Dye is that it is messy and will stain clothing.. so remember that for the PNM's and your carpet.

TU has done this for many years... decorate dog and cat bowls for the local pet shelter. You just need the bowls (either purchase or ask for donations from wal-martish places). Metal isn't good for this, so go for the plastic.

Get some non-toxic paint markers. Also the chapter has bought clear plastic baggies that the ladies decorated and then we put doggy bones or cat treats in and then tied with a ribbon.

The decor in the past was pictures of the members with their pets and then pictures of the chapter working at the HS. Also we put out all the letter shirts with the different prints and patterns.

This has always gone over big time with the PNMs. Since we this part in a smaller room, not everyone is able to do this part at the same time... so we have a second room explaining all the other philanthorpy projects along with the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation.

Good luck, you're not alone because you have all of us!

we actually took a lot of pre-cautions so we had no problem with the messiness. we had big smocks in case anyone wanted to wear. we then covered an area of our suite with plastic lines and put a table on it. we had big buckets dedicated for each color. however, the girls didn't dip the shirts in the bucket, they used these squirt bottle type things to put the dye on the shirts, while holding it over the bucket so any extra would fall into that. and we only let a certain number of girls go up to the table at a time so that way it wasn't too crowded. i don't think one person got dye on themselves or the carpet.

For several years, my chapter made tissue paper flowers to bring to a nursing home or hospital. We also made tags and cards with cheerful messages to attach to the flowers. They really brightened up the patients' day, and PNMs loved it because there was no mess, since there was no need for glue or paint, and it required little to no artistic skill, so there was no pressure on them to not mess up their projects. Also, everyone could make as many or as few as they wanted, so there weren't any awkward gaps of time if someone finished their project earlier than the other people in their group.

My girls did goodie bags for the children's ward at the local hospital. We contacted the hospital and got the names of the children (first names only, gender, age and illness level).

We got brown grocery bags from the local grocery store and used craft paper, ribbons, glue, stickers to personalize them for each child at the hospital. Then we filled them with silly stuff:

Stickers
Kazoos
Sheets of paper with Tic-Tac-Toe squares for them to fill in
Single sheets out of coloring books
4 - 5 crayons tied together with string
String "cats cradle" with a little instruction booklet
A personalized story book from each PNM

Since we've done this for a while, we know that we'll have about 25 kids to prep for. Each member brings her "stash" of craft stuff and we end up buying glue, stickers and a few other supplies.

PM me if you want/ need more details.