When I was a sophomore, I decided to go through recruitment to join one of the four sororities at Muhlenberg College. I wanted to meet more people because I felt like Muhlenberg seemed a bit small my freshman year. Aside from the social aspect of it, I was really drawn towards the philanthropic aspect. I ended up becoming a member of Alpha Chi Omega, and our philanthropy is domestic violence awareness.
I found this issue to be extremely prevalent, especially for women on a college campus. We are given the opportunity to raise money and awareness for the local domestic violence shelter for battered women, Turning Point of Lehigh Valley. Every semester we have a huge philanthropy event, and sometimes we are able to get women from Turning Point to actually come and speak. It’s very effective to hear victims tell their stories and it’s so gratifying to hear how much our support helps victims. This past fall we had a Twister tournament and a spinning class fundraiser. We were able to raise approximately $1,500 for Turning Point, which was a huge accomplishment.
In addition to having events where we raise money for Turning Point, we just celebrated “Healthy Relationships Week” this past week. We blew up our social media with different pictures and inspirational quotes about the importance of having healthy relationships. This is a really important campaign because so many people have unhealthy relationships, whether it be with a friend or a significant other. It’s so important for college students to be aware of what an unhealthy relationship is and for them to know that there are people out there who can support them if they are trying to get out of an unhealthy relationship.
Domestic violence awareness is a very crucial topic, and there are plenty of opportunities for Muhlenberg students to help the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega raise money and awareness for victims of domestic violence.