Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is Chi Omega Fraternity's National Philanthropy. Since the start of our alliance, Chi Omegas have made a difference in many children's lives through volunteering time, talents, and dollars. The Make-A-Wish Foundation has honored Chi Omega for the incredible volunteer efforts of our members.
Each autumn, Epsilon Gamma hosts
Hootiefest, our week-long celebration of the Make-A-Wish Foundation's accomplishments and fundraiser for its efforts. Monday kicks off with a campus-wide cookout, with not only burgers & hot dogs off the grill, but just about everything you could imagine as local restaurants donate everything from Mexican to Chinese to chili! With raffles and games throughout the night, the cookout allows us to combine two of our favorite things - raising money for Make-A-Wish and having a lot of fun! The week continues with the annual Chi O Sing competition, a singing competition that allows some of TU's most talented (...or just enthusiastic!) to show off their pipes for a good cause. Last year's Hootiefest
raised over $7,500, enough to fully fund the wish of a worthy child!
This year we had the opportunity to co-host a spring Make a Wish event with TEMSA and the American Red Cross! The second annual
Field of Wishes was a huge success. We were able to invite Make-A-Wish children from the area to come play field games and hang out on TU's football field. This was hosted in conjunction with a blood drive by the American Red Cross, which turned out to be the most successful blood drive on TU's campus in years! We are so excited to be extending our philanthropic efforts. Much congratulations should go to
Lindsay Walton, our Director of Community Service for 2010, for continuing to develop another opportunity to help out. If you have any more ideas or questions you can contact her at
lindsay-walton@utulsa.edu. Get excited for more info on our next event!
It's an honor for Chi Omega to team up with such a wonderful organization - we consider our relationship with Make-A-Wish one of our most important focuses. We're lucky that this partnership extends beyond philanthropy; we also participate directly in Make-A-Wish functions. We love
hosting send-off parties at the Chi Omega house, inviting Wish kids about to embark on their adventure to come play games, enjoy cake & ice cream, and celebrate their story with their families.
One of our most treasured traditions is hosting annual
Make-A-Wish art parties at the Chi Omega house. Chi O's and Wish Kids team up to glue, glitter, and fingerpaint their ways to masterpieces, which are later auctioned to donors at Make-A-Wish fundraisers. The opportunity to interact with such extraordinary children and their families is a wonderful gift, and we love each of them!