I am a proud member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha. We are the number one Greek-led philanthropy in the nation. Every year, we raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for our philanthropy: breast cancer education and awareness. This year, we are trying to reach a goal of $225,000 for the cause. To say the least, this is something we are very passionate about.

Two days ago in class, I heard some girls in sororities (I don’t know which ones) talking about philanthropy. This was their conversation:

Girl 1: “Yeah, and then she said that she joined Greek life because of philanthropy...”

Girl 2: “You’re kidding...”

Girl 1: “Yeah, but then she said ‘just kidding!’ and we were all like ‘oh, OK, good!’”

Hearing this conversation made me cringe.

To us, philanthropy is part of the reason we went Zeta. We spend months raising money in too many ways to count. To other chapters, their philanthropy events are something that they have to do once a semester instead of something that they want to do. Other houses will complain about having to work for an hour at their event whereas we get excited months in advance for ours.

We are proud of this. All of the hard work we put into it is going to pay off on October 20th when we host our philanthropy event, Big Man On Campus, and the grand total is revealed.

There is no better feeling than canning on the street on a Saturday morning, when you would probably rather be sleeping in, but one family comes up and donates $20 because their mom, or aunt, or grandmother was a breast cancer survivor or victim. These are the people that we do this for. These are the stories that we live to hear about to make our experience worth it.

Knowing that we are a group of women that can make such a change, is what makes our sisterhood even stronger. We are more than a group of girls that lives together and parties together on the weekends. We are doing something important and we are making a difference.

Greek life as a whole needs to do better. Philanthropy SHOULD be a reason you are a part of your chapter. It should not be embarrassing to say that your philanthropy is a reason you joined Greek life. It is amazing what a group of people can accomplish if they are passionate enough and put their minds to it.

Side note: if you are feeling generous and want to make a donation towards breast cancer education and awareness, please donate to https://bmociu.rallybound.org Every little amount helps to find a cure!