By next summer, Sydney Twiggs, the Panhellenic Association vice president of community involvement, said she hopes to be in a foreign country with her sorority sisters to build a school.
In order to accomplish this, Twiggs said PHA has been actively working with its national philanthropy, the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation.
Circle of Sisterhood is an organization that brings education to girls and women across the world in underprivileged countries, PHA Director of Service Madi Lasson said.
PHA’s goal is to raise $40,000 by the end of the fall semester in order to help fund building a school and make a difference in the lives of these women, Twiggs said.
“The impact we want to make as a Panhellenic council is to come together to empower women who are not as privileged as we are and give them the means to become successful women,” Twiggs said.
PHA is currently deciding between two countries to assist in the philanthropy, Lasson said.
He said PHA is considering building the school in either Senegal or Nicaragua, both of which are known for their low education rates.
Once the money is raised, Twiggs said she and 14 other sisters will embark on a trek experience to one of these countries to help build the school.
While abroad, the sisters will begin the building process, but will leave the rest of the work to construction workers, Twiggs said.
However, Lasson said a quarter of the funds raised will be sent to Circle of Sisterhood by the end of the semester as a down payment for the trip and philanthropy. Twiggs said half of this amount is already secured.
To meet this deadline, Twiggs said she has asked each chapter in PHA to raise $450 by the end of the semester. About $2,000 has already been raised through registration fees for sorority recruitment this year.
Twiggs said PHA also will be putting on a Dine and Donate between 5 p.m. and 3 a.m., beginning April 26 at Domino’s Pizza, to raise more money for Circle of Sisterhood.
While PHA has always raised awareness and promoted the causes of Circle of Sisterhood, Twiggs said this is the first the two have come together for a philanthropy at IU.
When she began her position with PHA at the beginning of this semester, Twiggs said she saw it as an opportunity to help Circle of Sisterhood.
“It’s really just giving the organization at IU a driving force, a push, a tangible goal,” Twiggs said.
Many IU sororities have their own Circle of Sisterhood representative, Twiggs said. She said seeing their excitement, as well as the excitement of all the other sisters, only fuels her own.
Lasson said she is also eager for this philanthropy because it gives PHA another opportunity to do something great.
“We’re so lucky to be able to go to such a wonderful university and be in such an awesome organization,” Lasson said. “It’s important for us to help girls who don’t have the same opportunities as we do.”
Twiggs said she hopes PHA will be able to help fund the construction of a school every two years.
For now, however, Lasson said she is very proud with how far PHA has come in fundraising.
“We’re mobilizing in such a huge way,” Lasson said. “Were going to be able to build a school and show others the awesome things we did.”
