Countdown to Baltimore Leadership Conference! Read This Post to Learn More!

The Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation is pleased to join the Fraternity at the 2007 Leadership Conferences where we will again host the Saturday night dinner. Last year, thanks to the generosity of our collegiate and alumnae sisters, the Foundation was able to raise over $30,000 to help fund quality leadership programming, scholarships and grants and support for the National Kidney Foundation and Kidney Foundation of Canada.We invite you and your chapter to join the Foundation Board of Directors and fellow collegian and alumnae sisters celebrate the efforts of our donors and learn about how your gifts are put to work. Here’s how!

Donate An Item From Your Chapter For The Foundation Auction

This year, we invite your chapter to help us make the Foundation dinner and auction even more successful by donating a chapter gift to be auctioned to the highest bidder. Great ideas from previous auctions include:

• Items used during ritual (i.e., candlesticks, vase, bible cover, gavel, ritual table cloth, etc.)
  
• A basket representing your home state or region (California Dreamin’, New York Big Apple, Fun in the Sun)
  
• Unique Phi Sigma Sigma items that your chapter makes (banner for recruitment, scrapbook cover, etc.)
  

Would you like more information or ideas about what to donate for the Foundation auction? If so, email us at foundation@phisigmasigma.org. With your help, the Foundation auction will continue to be a highlight of the conference! We look forward to all our sisters joining us in the bidding process too!

Participate in the Foundation Raffle

In addition to participating in the auction by both donating and bidding on items, sisters may also buy chances to win fabulous merchandise in the Foundation Raffle. Raffle tickets will be available Friday night and all day Saturday.

Give Heart to Hearts

One of the most treasured traditions from our international conclaves is “Heart to Hearts.” This year, we are bringing this wonderful tradition to the Leadership Conferences! The recipient of a Heart receives a card from you and includes your personal message. She also receives a double heart appliqué to wear on her nametag. This is a perfect opportunity to say “thank you” to chapter sisters and community volunteers.

Join the Rosebud Society

Rosebud Society membership provides a unique opportunity for collegians to begin their lifetime of giving through three easy and affordable donations to the Foundation.

Membership is obtained through three gifts over three years ($20, $25, and $30 respectively) totaling $75. When the first payment is received, the sister receives a lapel pin to signify membership into the Rosebud Society. Once her third payment is made, the sister receives her first lifetime rose giving level pin. We invite all Leadership Conference attendees to join the Rosebud Society. When you generously donate $20 at the conference, you will receive your rosebud pin on the spot and will be able to proudly display your support for the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation.

Transplant Games Video Now Online!

Do you want a sneak peak at the 2006 Transplant Games video? If so, check out Kidney's website at http://www.kidney.org/news/tgames/index.cfm.

At the Leadership Conferences, the Archon from every chapter will receive a DVD of the Transplant Games along with additional information for chapter activities and recruitment. All sisters (alumnae and collegiate) who are attending one of the Leadership Conferences will have the chance to see the video at dinner!

Did you know...

Did you know that in the Foundation blog's first month of existence we had sisters from 9 different countries visit the site? Can you guess which ones?

Sisters have logged on to http://www.phisigmasigmafoundation.org/ from...

• United States
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Portugal
• Chile
• Philippines
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Denmark

Remember to check back often as we are always posting new content and don't forget to send us the great service projects or philanthropy projects you or your chapter is involved in. We love hearing from our collegians and alumnae!

Great Service Project Idea!

Are you looking for a service project to do by yourself or with sisters? Xerox has developed the website www.letssaythanks.com that gives you an opportunity to select a card designed by a student, write a message of encouragement and then submit it to be printed and sent to the troops overseas by the good folks at Xerox. It's easy! Here's more information on the mission of "Let's Say Thanks":

The mission of Let's Say Thanks is to provide a way for individuals across the country to recognize U.S. troops stationed overseas.

By submitting a message through this site you have the opportunity to send a free personalized postcard greeting to deployed servicemen and women.

The postcards, depicting patriotic scenes and hometown images, were selected from a pool of entries from children across the country.

All you have to do is click on your favorite design and either select the message that best expresses your sentiment or draft a personal note.

Get started now at www.letssaythanks.com!

Phi Sigs Serve In New Orleans

Executive Director Michelle Snyder Ardern, Membership Managers Catherine Udell, Lisa Wallace and Nicole Westerfer attended the Association of Fraternity Advisors meeting in New Orleans in early December. They participated in AFA's Service Plunge with Habitat for Humanity during the Annual Meeting, working on houses in Musicians’ Village.

Located in the city’s Upper Ninth Ward, the Musicians’ Village project was conceived by Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. and will consist of homes constructed by Habitat in partnership with displaced New Orleans musicians and other qualifying homeowner families of modest means. Its centerpiece will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, dedicated to music education and learning opportunities for homeowners and others who will live nearby. The center is named for the patriarch of the Marsalis clan - a modern jazz pioneer and native New Orleanian. New Orleans Habitat purchased 8.1 vacant acres that eventually will house 75 single-family homes, six elder-friendly doubles, and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. The property will be considered the core of the Musicians’ Village.

Lisa Wallace commented,

“We were humbled by the work being done in New Orleans by Habitat. There is still so much to do. We had the opportunity to work with other fraternity and sorority staff members, Greek Advisors and other volunteers on a very worthwhile project.”

Leadership Conferences 2007

The Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation is pleased to join the Fraternity at the 2007 Leadership Conferences where we will again host the Saturday night dinner. Last year, thanks to the generosity of our collegiate and alumnae sisters, the Foundation was able to raise over $30,000 to help fund quality leadership programming, scholarships and grants and support for the National Kidney Foundation and Kidney Foundation of Canada.

We invite you and your chapter to join the Foundation Board of Directors and fellow collegian and alumnae sisters celebrate the efforts of our donors and learn about how your gifts are put to work. Here’s how!

Donate An Item From Your Chapter For The Foundation Auction
This year, we invite your chapter to help us make the Foundation dinner and auction even more successful by donating a chapter gift to be auctioned to the highest bidder. Great ideas from previous auctions include:

• Items used during ritual (i.e., candlesticks, vase, bible cover, gavel, ritual table cloth, etc.)
• A basket representing your home state or region (California Dreamin’, New York Big Apple, Fun in the Sun)
• Unique Phi Sigma Sigma items that your chapter makes (banner for recruitment, scrapbook cover, etc.)
  

Would you like more information or ideas about what to donate for the Foundation auction? If so, email us at foundation@phisigmasigma.org. With your help, the Foundation auction will continue to be a highlight of the conference! We look forward to all our sisters joining us in the bidding process too!

Participate in the Foundation Raffle
In addition to participating in the auction by both donating and bidding on items, sisters may also buy chances to win fabulous merchandise in the Foundation Raffle. Raffle tickets will be available Friday night and all day Saturday.

Give Heart to Hearts
One of the most treasured traditions from our international conclaves is “Heart to Hearts.” This year, we are bringing this wonderful tradition to the Leadership Conferences! The recipient of a Heart receives a card from you and includes your personal message. She also receives a double heart appliqué to wear on her nametag. This is a perfect opportunity to say “thank you” to chapter sisters and community volunteers.

Join the Rosebud Society
Rosebud Society membership provides a unique opportunity for collegians to begin their lifetime of giving through three easy and affordable donations to the Foundation.

Membership is obtained through three gifts over three years ($20, $25, and $30 respectively) totaling $75. When the first payment is received, the sister receives a lapel pin to signify membership into the Rosebud Society. Once her third payment is made, the sister receives her first lifetime rose giving level pin. We invite all Leadership Conference attendees to join the Rosebud Society. When you generously donate $20 at the conference, you will receive your rosebud pin on the spot and will be able to proudly display your support for the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation.