Congratulations to UF’s Sigma Kappa sorority for winning this semester’s Her Campus UFL PACE Center for Girls supply drive contest! Practical Academic Cultural Education, or PACE, is a nonprofit organization that provides a safe and nurturing environment for young girls, ages 12 to 18, to improve their education and social development. In the spirit of the giving season, we asked the sororities on campus to donate canned food, school supplies and toiletries to this organization, and Sigma Kappa’s donations outnumbered everyone else. To honor Sigma Kappa for placing first in the supply drive, we wanted to tell you more about this sorority’s history and what makes them so amazing.
Sigma Kappa sorority was officially founded on November 8, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine by five courageous young women — Mary Caffrey Low, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Fuller, Frances Mann and Louise Helen Coburn. With a goal for a national organization in mind, Sigma Kappa has now grown to have 112 collegiate chapters and initiated 156,000 members since its founding. With the ideals of personal growth, friendship, service and loyalty in mind, Sigma Kappa seeks women who are dedicated to lifelong opportunities and support for social, intellectual and spiritual development by positively impacting the community. This aspect of Sigma Kappa’s chapter certainly proved true during the supply drive!
Sigma Kappa nationally supports multiple philanthropies, including the Sigma Kappa Foundation, Inherit the Earth, Gerontology, Maine Sea Coast Mission and Alzheimer’s disease. The Beta Tau chapter puts on Sigma Shootout, a soccer tournament, every Fall to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease research and the Sigma Kappa Foundation. Both sororities and fraternities participate with Sigma Kappas as coaches, and everyone has a great time while giving back. SK also holds an annual pancake dinner called Sigma Stacks at their house during the Spring. Sigma Kappa’s charitable nature goes further than Sigma Shootout and Sigma Stacks, however. Sisters also participate in many campus-wide philanthropies, such as Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, Gators March for Babies and Project Makeover.
Thanks again to the sisters of Sigma Kappa and all the other sororities on campus who made this supply drive such a huge success!