Sorority Alpha Chi Omega raised $9,532 in its Oct. 3 paint war for Sistercare, an organization helping victims of domestic violence.
Alpha Chi Omega philanthropy board member and second-year early childhood education student Becca Block hopes to continue spreading awareness about domestic violence year-round.
“I really love our philanthropy because we promote healthy relationships by explaining what domestic violence is and basically how to identify the signs of an unhealthy relationship, but then we also get to do the fundraising aspect, where we help the local women and men of Columbia by raising money for Sistercare,” Block said.
The paint war is an annual event that brings together students from all over campus to raise money and awareness for local victims of domestic violence.
“All the proceeds, every cent goes towards fundraising for Sistercare,” said Natalie Galloway, vice president of philanthropy and third-year advertising student. “It was $8 a ticket if you bought it in advance and $10 at the door. With as many people we had, we were able to get that total.”
Approximately 1,300 students were in attendance. Students formed 35 teams that competed to have the cleanest banner as other teams threw paint at them. The team with the cleanest banner at the end won the paint war and was able to donate a percentage of the money to a philanthropy they chose.
“We were just so excited,” Galloway said. “We felt so blessed to have that many people attend, because every year we really like to not only have a bunch of paint and a bunch of stuff prepared for people but also we really like to have a speaker and share with them a little bit about our philanthropy so people who attend, they actually learn a little bit about domestic violence awareness and just what is being done for it in the community.”
Alpha Chi Omega hopes to continue improving the lives of people in Columbia through their philanthropy but is thrilled to start their semester off with a large donation to Sistercare.
“The entire philanthropy board, as well as Natalie, our vice president of recruitment, worked so hard to make this event such a success, and for our hard work pay off is really rewarding,” Block said.