Penn State's IFC/Panhellenic Dance MaraTHON raises 7.8 million dollars!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by ta kala

While I agree with donating to a known cause, it's the chapters that are not holding events that benefit other causes. When you're told that you cannot schedule an official chapter visit because the dates we want are over a canning weekend, I think that says something.

Umm...what if they said not to schedule a chapter visit over Homecoming, or Greek week, or any other time that they know sisters simply will be too busy or won't be around? People go to Pittsburgh or Philly and can, they don't stay on campus.

Really, are we trying to instill the value of philanthropy in general, or only the value of the philanthropy the sorority's leadership has chosen?

[PeppyGPhiB]

I wish that more of the large greek systems would do this type of thing, and rotate/divide the earnings between a couple of philanthropies each year. In my opinion it's ridiculous for chapters to burn out on spending so much time on every.single.group's.obstacle course/volleyball tournament/pageant/walk/pancake breakfast. When every chapter does its own event, and every chapter must participate in all of the others, it equals a lot of work for a usually small benefit. Imagine if every greek system worked together to make a major contribution to a few orgs. every year - I know on my campus the donation we would end up making to our foundation would be far greater if we went this route rather than trying to organize and market our own event every year.

[psusue]

ta kala- I completely understand where you're coming from on this, believe me it's crossed more than a few people's minds what we can be doing with this money for our own philanthropies. However because it's such a tradition at our school (at a school built on strong traditions) I don't think anything would take off as much as THON has, even if we tried. It's hard to hear, but nothing is really comparable to THON in terms of anything I've experienced, especially in terms of philanthropies.

kddani- I personally apologize for this, and again it has been said that "canning" or the process of standing on street corners/in front of stores to solicit money into cans, is going to die within a few years. Why? Because we have farmed out too much of Pennsylvania, and I don't know how much more it can grow in the next 5-10 years. And also outside of the state there are the problems of people not knowing what THON is or that they don't really like Penn State (hard for me to think of, but it's true). I know I feel bad every time we go to Pittsburgh because almost everyone we talk to is like "wow you guys are everywhere" or "I already gave three times already" (after which we of course thank them for their generosity). Of course most people don't understand that there are 5-8 student groups in the area and that no, we don't all know each other either. =) Also if you want to avoid those weekends (or at least be prepared for them), they are all posted on www.thon.org in October, so you can get ready for the onslaught.

Peppy GPhiB- Actually we all do our individual philanthropies in addition to doing THON. So we actually do all the different activities you listed (for example we've always done a dodgeball tournament to raise money for the Sigma Sigma Sigma Foundation). So we haven't really shook much up in terms of that, we just do that in addition to all the time with THON.

[LionTamer]

I don't know about other campuses with a large number of sororities and fraternities, but the number of different philanthropies at Penn State is CRAZY, with each national insisting that, in addition to the chapter raising upwards of a quarter million dollars (per fraternity/sorority duo) for 'Thon, that the chapter should also 1) organize something to benefit its own national's philanthropy and 2) participate in everyone else's philanthropy (trust me, if you don't go to Anchor Splash, DG is NOT going to come to your Special Olympic benefit).

So at Penn State, you are going to hold you own philanthropy AND participate in something like 20 others (and that's just Panhel sororities - we also want to support the NPHC sorority fundraisers) That's just insane. And we're not even counting all the fraternity philanthropies. And then you have Homecoming, Greek Week and Greek Sing to work on. And you're supposed to go to class once in a while.

And so maybe the suggestion goes out from HQ that the chapter NOT participate in 'Thon. I can just see that at recruitment: "oh, those ASAs, they seem nice, but did you know they don't do 'Thon?" A lot of the social calendar is dedicated to events with your 'Thon partner, so it would have the same effect as opting out of Greek Week or Homecoming, socially. Not good for your image on campus.

And even pulling back can be iffy - the guys you probably WANT to do 'Thon with want to partner with girls who are actually going to work at it.

So the collegians are stuck. They can piss off HQ - someone they talk to a few times a year (and most of the chapter hardly sees) by doing just-enough for their national philanthrophy (like everyone on else on campus does), or they can irritate the entire Greek system and risk their reputation ("those XYZx think they're too good for 'Thon - they don't care about the kids"). What do you think they're going to choose?

[ta kala]

I never said we asked them to not support Thon. I was giving my opinion as someone who worked for a national organization and worked specifically with our chapter at Penn State. Do we punish them for supporting Thon? Absolutely not. I understand its importance, but at the same time I became frustrated with the lack of involvement with the causes important to our organization.

And Penn State is not the only campus suffering from over-extension when it comes to philanthropy events. I think it's a larger problem at many campuses, especially those that also compete with large scale national philanthropic groups.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by ta kala

I think it's a larger problem at many campuses, especially those that also compete with large scale national philanthropic groups.

Maybe I'm tired, but what did you mean? Like Race for the Cure and other things that go on around the town the college is in?

[LionTamer]

I imagine that each chapter deals with a different situation - at some schools, for instance, a sorority's event for their national philanthropy might be one of the highlights of the social calendar. But when you have about 45 IFC
fraternities and 19 Panehl sororities, pluS black greek organizations, all competing with a LOT of different events, it gets crazy..

[ASTalumna06]

Check out this video from THON! Love it!

Tucker Haas singing "Boom Boom Pow": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUuLOIXMDZ8

[RaggedyAnn]

That was so cute!

[madalinemadar]

Actually I heard that the IFC was going to step up and pay for it. At least that's what the Collegian said. Yay Greeks!

Green World

[kidrock]

Instead of standing on corners like beggers, why don't you get real jobs?

[psusue]

Originally Posted by kidrock

Instead of standing on corners like beggers, why don't you get real jobs?

Because it actually pays more to beg. I did the math once, if you worked for 8 hours at say $7 an hour (ignoring taxes, which would take from your profit), you'd make $56. In five hours of canning you usually make at least $100 per person. So it's actually smarter to beg.

[kidrock]

Originally Posted by psusue

Because it actually pays more to beg. I did the math once, if you worked for 8 hours at say $7 an hour (ignoring taxes, which would take from your profit), you'd make $56. In five hours of canning you usually make at least $100 per person. So it's actually smarter to beg.

NO. You forgot the 2.5 hours you spend driving wherever and the 2.5 hours you spend driving back to PSU. You also spend about $50 in gas for the trip.

PS. Panhandling is illegal in many areas.

[psusue]

Originally Posted by kidrock

NO. You forgot the 2.5 hours you spend driving wherever and the 2.5 hours you spend driving back to PSU. You also spend about $50 in gas for the trip.

PS. Panhandling is illegal in many areas.

It's usually $30, actually, and split among four or five people that's not bad at all. We all consider it part of our donation to THON.

And that's why you obtain permits to solicit in the township that you're in. Have a great day.

[als463]

Originally Posted by kidrock

Instead of standing on corners like beggers, why don't you get real jobs?

Who is this jackhole?