Gamma Chi Philanthropy Committee Preliminary Report
Hi Everyone!
A few of us have been trying to sort out the approach on philanthropy. Here's what we have so far:
1) For the time being, there will be no official Gamma Chi philanthropy. The rationale is that it would be very difficult to find a cause that is not already championed by one group or another. Also, other difficulties are posed. For example, if we pick something like, Habitat for Humanity, some members may not be able to participate. A Habitat for Humanity office may not be located near their town, or the member may not be physically able to participate (injury or disability) since HfH typically requires helping to build a house. Something like this can be said for almost every charity. Also, we must take into consideration our members in Canada, England and elsewhere who may not have branches of a particular charity. With that, we are proposing that everyone simply volunteer for a cause that you feel comfortable with. The bottom line is, we simply want to help: help children, help the elderly, help animals, help the local parks...etc.
2) Gamma Chi will have a merit system by which members can receive Bronze/Silver/Gold Star awards for participation in philanthropy. We posted a survey on the greek life board and found that the average number of hours spent participating in philanthropy in a collegiate chapter is about 20.5 hours per semester. We felt that it isn't fair for GC members who are currently in a college GLO to be able to count the hours that they're already using towards their GLO for Gamma Chi as well. Then again, we didn't want people to have to do 5,000 hours of service. We also considered that some Gamma Chi members are alums, and some are non-greeks - they don't have the same built-in opportunities. So, we came up with something that we think is a good compromise.
Since 20.5 hrs/sem was the average, we thought we'd be nice and lower that to a conservative 15 hrs/sem. That is, we assume that people are already contributing 30 hours a year to community service (most likely through their GLO).
For Gamma Chi members who are *currently* in a collegiate chapter, the first 30 hours in the award scheme are "uncounted." Here's the breakdown:
- Bronze Star: 30 "uncounted hours" + 30 hours = 60 total
- Silver Star: 30 "uncounted hours" + 50 hours = 80 total
- Gold Star: 30 "uncounted hours" + 70 hours = 100 total
As mentioned previously, those who are alums or are not in a GLO are at a disadvantage. So, for these members, we have waived the first 30 requirement. Here's the breakdown for *alums and non-greek*:
- Bronze Star: "0" + 30 hours = 30 total
- Silver Star: "0" + 50 hours = 50 total
- Gold Star: "0" + 70 hours = 70 total
3) This award scheme runs on a ONE YEAR time frame from June 1 to May 31. That is, one has an entire year to achieve these hours. Now, I wasn't a math major, but I figure that, it would take 1.9 hours a week to reach the 100 hour mark. That's like two four-hour shifts at the local nursing home. This isn't that hard.
4) Gamma Chi members would collect documentation showing hours worked throughout the year. At the end of the year (May 31) GC members would submit the papers (by US post) to the Philanthropy Chair who would tally everything up on a spreadsheet (like Excel). Philanthropy Committee members have the final say to determine whether or not certain hours will be accepted in case of a questionable entry or a dispute. Our next task will be to draw up guidelines about what would be considered "philanthropy" (like, babysitting your niece is not philanthropy
).
5) Philanthropy Merit Award recipients would be announced by the end of June (hopefully!). Recipients would receive
a bronze, silver or gold star recognition pin and maybe a certificate. The pins are not precious metal. We're not sure how this would be paid for. We may just have to offer the pins as a side purchase (they're like $5). One committee member thought dangles would be cool. That's a great idea too and we're currently looking for appropriate items.
6) Finally, the names of the various Merit Award winners will be sent to their respective GLOs with a letter like, "The following members of Gamma Chi International Co-Ed Fraternity have been awarded with a Bronze/Silver/Gold Star Award for excellence in philanthropy. Since [Susie] and [Mary] are members of [XYZ] we thought you would like to join us in congratulating them on their achievement." You know, something like that. We thought this would magnify the achievement for our hardworking members, plus help get Gamma Chi's name out to other GLOs. Yes, Alumni names would be included. I'm not sure if we can do anything similar for the non-greeks. I don't even think we have many in Gamma Chi.
I know that this is a lot. The committee welcomes feedback from everyone on any of this. Okie dokie? Thanks!
Typing on behalf of the Philanthropy Committee,
......Kelly
Cool!!!!!!
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