Lame Philanthropy Night Events

AXO Alum · #1 05-11-2003, 08:47 PM

Have you guys been to (or had -- you don't have to say which

) any really LAME philanthropy rounds during formal recruitment? I have heard of some really lame ones at my alma mater, and just wondered if this is a night that everyone seems to struggle with or what?! I think we have finally found one that works for us -- although I must admit its VERY hard to incorporate such a sad philanthropy (Domestic Violence) with a fun event. Especially when you are competing with other chapters who work with groups (such as children) in making fun stuff for them.

One of the worst rounds I heard about was having a card for each PNM group to sign -- that was it -- sign a card...yeah, big explanation of philanthropy!

Anyway -- without mentioning org names (unless you just want to fess up for your own

) tell me about some lame ones you have seen.

KillarneyRose · #2 05-12-2003, 12:51 AM

This was not us!

Assembling care packages for women living in a shelter. Definitely a worthwhile project, but they should have limited the items to shampoo, soap, deodorant and disposable razor. Expecting PNMs to handle tampons is just a little too much.

AXO Alum · #3 05-12-2003, 10:22 AM

KRose - know what you mean!! Been there - had that happen! It ended up being a bunch of sisters throwing tampons under the tables (with tablecloths) -- it was crazy!

The problem we have had with doing these care packages now is that so many groups (churches, civic clubs, etc.) do that -- the shelter we assist has specifically asked for no more care packages or mini-toiletries because they are out of storage room!

That's funny that that happened though!

PhiSigFly · #4 05-12-2003, 11:18 AM

When I went through rush, one of the sororities wantes us to paint dog bowls for puppies and kittens in a pound... If that wasn't bad enough, about 10 minutes into it, the sisters started running around telling us not to paint the inside of the bowl because they hadn't bought non-toxic paint!!!!

Needless to say, I dropped them the next day!

33girl · #5 05-12-2003, 11:36 AM

Sometimes I think it would be better to get all the rushees & sisters together and build a Habitat for Humanity house, rather than some of the things I've heard about for philanthropic rounds.

Like AXO Alum said, there are only so many care packages you can make. A lot of our national philanthropies are mainly donation supported...and as far as local stuff, well, it's one thing for the sisters to all go to the nursing home and help out, but that's not something you can do w/ rushees in 45 minutes. And I'm sure there's some amount of resentment on the part of rushees if they get cut..."I had to make their stupid whateveritis and then they cut me!"

I think the idea of showing we do philanthropy is good, but sometimes it is hard to put it into a short party without making it really lame.

MoxieGrrl · #6 05-12-2003, 11:42 AM

While our philanthropy events were amazing, I can remember one philanthropy themed rush party that was struggling. We decorated brown paper bags for something (I don't remember!). Ok, some of them came out cute, but I don't know......I just hate brown paper bags.

OUlioness01 · #7 05-12-2003, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MoxieGrrl
While our philanthropy events were amazing, I can remember one philanthropy themed rush party that was struggling. We decorated brown paper bags for something (I don't remember!). Ok, some of them came out cute, but I don't know......I just hate brown paper bags.

i know that Phi Mu makes "Lion Bags" to put over children's IV's in hospitals to make their rooms a little more cheery. remember, it's not what you do but the outcome that matters. Our philanthropy round has been a "progressive" one in that each party adds on to what was done previously. Every chapter i know of absolutely hates it though.

Glitter650 · #8 05-12-2003, 04:31 PM

We had a national philanthropy rush event last year called things with wings... all the PNMs and sisters made anything with wings butterflies, birds, dragonflies out of construction paper, glitter, glue, tape etc... then they were sent to a store where for a dollar you could have your name put on one as a donor to the NKF and they hung all the ones with names around the store.... NE WAY... I think it turned a lot of the prospective women away from us... not only was it kinda kindergarten with the construction paper... but I think the main reason that it seemed so lame to them was becuase none of the other sororities did a philanthropy round of parties... I don't know why or if this breaks any rules but they didn't so I think the women at our parties found it kinda weird and different.

XOMichelle · #9 05-14-2003, 04:13 PM

We decorated picture frames for the Make a Wish kids to put a picture of their wish in. The thing is, the local MAW office doesn't have a lot of storage space, so this idea might not work in a year or so... But people seemed to like it. The Thetas had the girls make peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches to donate to a shelter. It's a tad messy and a bit smelly, but it is useful!

trisigmaAtl · #10 05-15-2003, 12:07 AM

One of the sororities on my campus had us make doggie biscuits for the local humane society. This was a cute idea, but it involved everyone donning an apron and cafeteria lady gloves over our rush clothes and actually working with doggie biscuit batter!! it was kinda messy and akward and after you'd touched the dough you couldn't touch anything else till you were out the door and degloved. Then your hands had that weird glove smell too. It was a good idea in theory, but the addition of rush clothes plus rush manners made it awfully difficult. The president even gave us the spiel about dues and costs while we had the doughy gloves on!!!! It's the type of project I would want to do again, when I wasn't so concious of EVERYTHING around me.

honeychile · #11 05-15-2003, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MoxieGrrl
While our philanthropy events were amazing, I can remember one philanthropy themed rush party that was struggling. We decorated brown paper bags for something (I don't remember!). Ok, some of them came out cute, but I don't know......I just hate brown paper bags.

I was practically howling with laughter when I read this!!

When I rushed, not one, not two, but three sororities had us color brown paper bags to use as "puppets" for the local children's hospital.

The first one, I was very creative and made a darn cute puppet. The second time, I was thinking the entire time, "What kid plays with brown paper bag puppets anymore?" but still made the damn puppet. When I visited the third house IN A ROW doing the same brown paper bag puppet thing, I wanted to scream! I made some comment about "charity is good" then suggested that the sister assigned to me and I should talk instead. Needless to say, they cut me. Needless to say, I was glad!

KillarneyRose knows of whom I speak, so she'll understand completely!

Moral of the story: whatever you do, be sure it's not the same thing that everyone else is doing!!

Oh, now a cute idea for COB: get the thin plastic gloves that food workers use - the clear ones. Put a few red candy hearts in each finger, and fill the rest with caramel corn. Fasten the end of the glove and make a cuff (can be shredded & curled ribbon) on the hand. These make great "goblin hands" for any children's project!

honeychile · #12 05-15-2003, 12:34 AM

Just thinking about the Domestic Violence philanthropy... Since these women are in major need of self esteem, could y'all come up with a "You Are Wonderful!" "You Deserve A Good Life!" or other type of message on a little pillow or such? I'm thinking small pin cushion-sized pillows. The design could be printed (with those fabric pens?) on felt or another heavy material, some could cut them out, others could stuff them, others could sew them up.

OR... Print out a lot of positive messages (get your psych majors working on this, or ask a domestic violence counselor), at least 31 different messages. They can be cut up, folded, and put in a mason jar or such with some sort of label "A Month of Progress" or something else that a domestic violence counselor suggests, with the suggestion to read one a day to be empowered. Maybe make the jars pretty with a fabric top & ribbon. I'm just brain storming here, I'm sure y'all can work out the details.

KerriMarie · #13 05-15-2003, 12:36 AM

Ha ha ha, we did a pretty lame project this year... brown paper bags and all!

We had a red, white, and blue theme, and to go along with that, a Go USA! kind of philanthropy. We had PNMs decorate a brown paper bag, and write a short letter to troops overseas. The original plan was to have them take some little things we had (razors, toothpaste, cereal bars) and put them in their bag, but we realized we hadn't gotten enough stuff, so we just displayed the stuff nicely on the table so they could see what we were sending. Lame!

To top it off, we didn't send the stuff! My roomie was the philanthropy chair, and she had a HUGE box of all the mini samples and stuff and all the brown paper bags and letters in our room for months and months! She claimed she never had time to send it, or money in her budget (I told her to ask places if they would send it for free, since it was going to Armed Services overseas, but she was just LAZY and wouldn't do anything with the crap that was taking over our room.

Eventually, we heard about a campus-wide donations drive, and they would be sending all the stuff to troops overseas. We went through the box, threw out the bags and letters, and donated all of the stuff - this was probably in like December, Rush is in AUGUST!

AchtungBaby80 · #14 05-15-2003, 11:29 AM

The worst philanthropy day project in my opinion was the house that made PNMs decorate flower pots, only the same flower pots were used all day long so by the time my rotation got to that house at the end of the day, there was no room on the pot for me to draw anything. To me, it seemed sort of half-assed, like the chapter just came up with the idea at the last minute and didn't buy enough flower pots or something.

greeklawgirl · #15 05-15-2003, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Glitter650
I think the main reason that it seemed so lame to them was becuase none of the other sororities did a philanthropy round of parties... I don't know why or if this breaks any rules but they didn't so I think the women at our parties found it kinda weird and different.

Sorry to hijack.
Cara, as far as I know SFSU has never done a philanthropy round at rush. When I rushed and was a collegiate (9 years ago, oh my God!) the rounds were Open House, First Round, Skit Night, Preference, Bid Day.

I think that philanthropy rounds are a good idea, but SFSU has so few girls going through rush (when compared to SEC or PAC-10) that it doesn't make financial sense to force the sororities to overhaul one entire round of parties. Just my $19.04.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread!