Northern Virginia Alumnae Chapter and Beta Upsilon Support the National Kidney Foundation!

Our very own Kim Hildred, Past Grand Archon and Foundation President, and Judith Distler, Past Grand Archon and Foundation Director, walked this past weekend in the National Kidney Foundation Walk in Washington, DC. Kim and Judith were joined by sisters from the NOVA Alumnae Chapter and Beta Upsilon (American University) sisters. Kim wrote the following post to tell us about their adventures.

We couldn’t have picked a better day to walk to help those with kidney disease at the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Walk hosted by the National Kidney Foundation of the National Capital Area. I was so proud of the sisters from Beta Upsilon (American University) who got up so early on a Saturday morning during their fall break to live our core value of servant leadership. They, along with the sisters of Beta Alpha (University of Maryland) and the Northern Virginia alumnae chapter raised funds to help fight kidney disease and many joined us in walking to fight kidney disease.

Hearing again about the devastation caused by kidney disease reminded me of the importance of our sorority’s work volunteering and raising funds to help those with this debilitating and sometimes deadly disease. For example, did you know?

• 20 million Americans - 1 in 9 US adults - have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
  and another 20 million more are at increased risk.
• Over 96,000 people are currently on the national transplant waiting list in the United States.
• An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.
• Every 12 minutes another person is added to the national transplant waiting list.
• More than two million Americans die each year, but only 15,000 die under circumstances that make them medically eligible to donate organs.
• Of the estimated 15,000 medically eligible to donate organs, only about 6,000 patients actually become donors.
  

I want to work even harder to make a difference, and I know many of my sisters do too. Spending the day with my phenomenal sisters made our effort even more meaningful.

Judith Distler, Past Grand Archon, Foundation Director and Northern Virginia alumnae chapter member added:

It was a beautiful fall day, the leaves just starting to turn colors, and it was perfect for a 5K walk to support the National Kidney Foundation. We assembled in the Georgetown Park Mall where we found face painters, bagels, water bottles, t-shirts, and other important support items for a event such as this. One of our Phi Sig sisters from American University (Beta Upsilon) even had a Sphinx painted on her face.

The sight of so many Phi Sigma Sigma letters on shirts was thrilling to be sure, and also the fact that, along with the Northern Virginia Alumnae, we were the only Greeks to officially take part in this event. And, we discovered, a photo of us from last year is in the official brochure! Wow!

Next year, we hope to see more of our Alumnae sisters and perhaps some other local chapters represented. Everyone had a great time!