Her Campus (HC): What is Phi Sigma Pi?
Priscila Parada (PP): Phi Sigma Pi is a National gender-inclusive Honor Fraternity; we have more than 100 chapters nation wide. We are based on a tripod of scholarship, leadership, and fellowship, meaning that we not only incorporate the social aspect of a fraternity, but also have an academic base and a wish to help out in our community. We are an Honor fraternity, we value the standards set before us and seek to be recognized for our values and integrity over anything else.
(HC): What is the supply drive? When is it? Who does it benefit?
(PP): The supply drive is an event our fraternity is hosting to benefit Springwood Elementary, a local school about 5 miles north of campus. It is being held from October 13 – 24, 2014 and there are donations bins over several campus buildings, at Market Wednesday, and at three locations around town.
(HC): What made your organization decide to do a supply drive?
(PP): Every year the Gamma Eta chapter of Phi Sigma Pi hosts an event called Hayride. Hayride is an inter-chapter relations (ICR) event in which we invite brothers from all over Florida (the Southeast Region) to come up to Tallahassee for a weekend of scholarship, fellowship, and leadership. No ICR event is complete without involving all three aspects of our tripod. Since Phi Sigma Pi was founded at State Teachers College (now University of Central Missouri), we have always attempted to make our service (leadership) aspect something that will benefit education.
(HC): Why did you choose that organization to give supplies to?
(PP): In the past, our service event was in benefit of Teach For America our former national philanthropy. This year, Phi Sigma Pi decided to leave TFA in an attempt to look for something [where] we could help more at a local level. I have worked at Starbucks for almost four years now, and through my company have met many wonderful regular customers – one such customer is a teacher at Springwood Elementary. I am also the ICR chair for the Gamma Eta chapter and when it came to making the decision of what our service event should be, now that we were no longer associated with TFA, I decided that benefiting young children in our own community would be better than anything else we could possibly do (children are our future after all).
(HC): Is there a goal for how many supplies you want to collect?
(PP): This is our first year attempting to do a school wide (or maybe even city wide) supply drive, and as such, we don’t really know what to expect. In the past we have had great success with brothers donating backpacks filled with supplies to TFA, and this year we hope that along with the help of our brothers and the FSU community we’ll be able to donate several bins to the school. Already almost 50 brothers and alumni have promised to donate at least one item each, and the numbers can only go up.
(HC): When and where can we drop off supplies?
(PP): Supplies can be dropped off at any donation bin throughout campus or Tallahassee from now until the afternoon of October 24, 2014, when brothers will go around collecting the bins in order to take them to the school the following week. Locations include: the Bridge lounge in the Union; in front of the FCS office in Sandels; in front of the Dean’s office in Stone; outside of HCB; by the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows house above Chick-Fil-A; as well as at the Starbucks’ on North Monroe and Fred George. We will also be hosting a table at Market Wednesday from 10:30am – 1pm.
(HC): How can we get more involved with the supply drive or with Phi Sigma Pi in general?
(PP): If you wish to get more involved with the supply drive we ask that you join our Facebook event. You can also follow Phi Sigma Pi Gamma Eta on Facebook or go to our website for more information on how to join our organization. If you want to get more involved in the fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi does a Fall and Spring rush every year looking for prospects.
(HC): How is this service project special to you?
(PP): This service project is something I came up with. Hayride has been around almost as long as our chapter has been (18 years), and from the beginning we have been donating backpacks to TFA. This is the first year we are focusing on helping our local community first, and it is also the first year we are attempting to include the rest of the school in our endeavors. Though we are active in activities like Homecoming and Relay For Life, we continue to be a small organization that not many people know about. We hope that by making the supply drive school wide we not only collect more items for Springwood, but also help spread our name throughout campus.
(HC): What do we have to look forward to from Phi Sigma Pi in the future?
(PP): We are currently focusing on Homecoming by participating in events like Renegade Recess and the banner making. We have also started to build up our team for Relay For Life and to fundraise money. Next Friday (October 24), we will also be hosting a fundraiser at Superperros all day long to help raise funds for the chapter so that we may engage in more projects.
(HC): Is there anything you would like to add that we haven’t already covered?
(PP): We really hope that people contribute to our supply drive. Children are our future and a good education early on can create stepping-stones for a great future. Tallahassee isn’t just about FSU and we should all be proud to be in such an amazing city, the capital of our state, and do our best to contribute to it and help it prosper.