Fundraising to Help Others

I’ve always wanted to change the world. As a kid I had big dreams, including—but not limited to—becoming the president, which ended when I realized that I wasn’t born in this country and couldn’t do that; becoming a marine biologist, which ended when I realized I would have to cut open the animals I so desperately wanted to save; and becoming a teacher, which ended in high school when I realized the job placement rating is dismal and more terrifying than the quantity of debt I would be amassing in college. In high school I was part of the Best Buddies club—a club that paired “regular” students and students with developmental and physical disabilities to create friendships and to show all students that they belong. When I entered college I didn’t immediately join a club concerning community service, but after joining Zeta Phi Eta my sophomore year, I became active in a community willing to help others.

The second semester of my sophomore year I became the Philanthropy Chair for the Beta Eta chapter of Zeta Phi Eta. I was ambitious when elected—I wanted to do as much as I could in as little time as possible. Helping people is a long process, not something that happens overnight. I planned events to not only raise money for our philanthropy Love146, but also to try and involve people in the fraternity as well as those outside of our small community of members.

I planned two events for the fraternity to raise money for our incredible philanthropy, which were Family Feud and Trivia Night. They were really successful and incredibly fun. The first event, the Family Feud event, brought in eight teams, only two of which were made up of Zetas. The teams fought hard to win 50% of the earnings for their own philanthropies. The winning team, Phi Delta Epsilon, donated their winnings to their Cystic Fibrosis philanthropy! The second event was Trivia Night. Although the turnout was mostly Zeta members, there was still a large turnout, a large amount of money was raised (all of which was donated to Love146!), and everyone had an amazing time.

Planning these events has taught me how to market events as well as plan large events that will appeal to large groups of people. It has been such a satisfying feeling doing things that not only everyone enjoys, but also helps other people. Through these two events, we’ve raised a little over $150 for our philanthropy. Additionally, we’ve been selling silicone bracelets to try and raise even more money for Love146. The knowledge that we’re helping people who can’t currently help themselves is an incredible feeling.

The event that was the most incredible this semester was definitely Relay for Life. It was incredible stressful to organize—coming up with a fundraiser that another team hadn’t already come up with, but was also feasible to do at an outdoor event, was really hard—but so rewarding. Having lost someone to cancer, going to an event like Relay is always difficult. It brings up hard memories that most people try to forget, but also reminds you that you’re not alone in your fight and your loss. As a team, Zeta Phi Eta Beta Eta Chapter raised $2,140 before the day of the event, making us the 5th highest fundraising team. At the actual event we sold Polaroid images and glow sticks (though the Polaroid’s were far more popular!) and raised over $200. When I went to turn in the money at the end of the night, the man collecting money was shocked at Zeta’s total. Not only had we risen significantly more than the other teams, but also we’d beat the average by about $150.

The knowledge that our fundraising may help at least one person from suffering is more than enough to make all of the stress of planning events and advertising them well worth it. Being apart of Zeta has helped me help others—something that I’ve always loved doing.

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