Kidney Walk 2007 - A Success!

This past Saturday was the NKF National Capital Region's Kidney Walk. We had a great time and it felt good that we could contribute to an event that is so very important to so many. The NKF kicked off the walk with a mini rally, introducing their sponsors and sharing kidney organ donation success stories. After hearing these inspirational stories we embarked on our 5K walk along Georgetown's C&O Canal. Enjoying each other's company and the beautiful fall weather, the time flew by and we crossed the finish line at 10:30AM.

The NoVA Alumnae chapter raised over $390 for the NKF this year. The chapter would like to thank our individual donors: Molly Harrison, Michelle Calderone, Amy Meininger, Dotti Shields, Gretchen Ehle, Katie Vlieststra, Kim Hildred and Michele Dominiak. We also would like to thank the Beta Upsilon (American University) and Beta Alpha (University of Maryland) Chapters for participating and raising money for this important cause. Diokete Hupsala!

Northern VA Alum Chapter Wine Tasting

On August 5th the Northern Virginia Alumnae Chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma held their second annual wine tasting event. This event is fast becoming a popular tradition with our alumnae chapter for it's combination of food, fun and fantastic wine. We had over 20 alumnae gather at the home of Kim Hildred where we sampled a variety of wines, both red and white, from the Central Coast of California, Napa Valley, France and Germany. Sisters also bought a wonderful spread of foods to accompany the wines, including shrimp, salmon, a variety of cheeses, fruit and salads. Our wine expert, Kelly Magyrics, expertly led us through discussions on the wines themselves, as well as their regions and the best food pairings. As always, Kelly was a wealth of information.

A special thank you goes out to Gretchen Ehle, Christy Smith, Katie Vlietstra and Dotti Shields for providing the food and wine for this event.

We are looking forward to planning another successful wine tasting for the summer of 2008, so keep an eye out for details after the first of the year.

NKF Walk - 2 Weeks Away!

The NKF Kidney Walk is now less than two weeks away (Saturday, October 13, 2007). Please let Michele Dominiak (moochichi at gmail dot com) know by this Friday, October 5, 2007, if you will be joining us in walking for this important cause. If you are interested in volunteering that day (helping out with walker registration, etc.,), please let her know as soon as possible. Don’t worry if you want to walk...if you volunteer, you can still walk!

If you would like to donate to the NKF, you can support the NoVA Alumnae team by donating online. Please visit the Northern Virginia Alumnae Chapter’s NKF Web site at http://www.firstgiving.com/novaalumpss. Remember, it doesn’t matter how much you give, just that give.

LET'S EAT! - We will also be going out to brunch/lunch together after the walk. We’ll be building up an appetite!

WHAT: 2007 Kidney Walk for NKF-DC
WHEN: October 13, 2007; Registration begins at 8:00 AM. The Walk starts at 9:00 AM
WHERE: The Shops at Georgetown Park (parking available in the garage), Washington, DC. The Walk is around the C&O Canal
Web site: www.kidneywdc.org
Event Web site: http://www.kidney.org/site/203/walk.cfm?ch=203
NoVA Alum Chapter’s Team site: http://www.firstgiving.com/novaalumpss

Look forward to serving with you!

Service Events with NOVACO

The NoVA Chapter has teamed up with the Northern Coalition, a non-profit organization that helps homeless victims of domestic abuse become healthy and self-sufficient. We will be helping NOVACO with the following service activities:

• October 22 - Youth Activities Night - providing fun activities for 10-15 children while their moms are attending NOVACO's life skills class
• November 19 - Youth Activities Night
• December 10 - Dinner for families and dinner with sisters! This social event will have a philanthropy component as we will ask sisters attending this social event to bring designated dinner "supplies" for NOVACO families.

If you are interested in attending any of these events or have questions, please feel free to contact Michele Dominiak at moochichi at gmail dot com.

Phi Sigs Walk for Kidney

Phi Sigma Sigma Sisters proudly walking in last year's NKF-DC Kidney Walk. This is the 2007 Promotional poster for the Kidney Walk, October 13, 2007 in Georgetown (click on picture to enlarge).

Fall Quarterly Meeting and September Social Event at the National Zoo

The Northern Virginia Alumnae chapter will meet on Sunday September 23 at 11:00 am for the chapter's fall quarterly meeting. The event will begin at Open City for brunch. Following the meeting we will walk up to the Washington National Zoo for the social part of the event. We will plan on walking up to the zoo around 12:30 for anyone that wants to forego the chapter meeting and meet us at the zoo.

Getting to the Zoo

Please RSVP to Gretchen Ehle: gmehle at hotmail dot com so that we can make reservations for brunch. We look forward to seeing you!

National Kidney Foundation Walk

Saturday, October 13th in Georgetown will be the NKF - National Capital Area's Annual Kidney Walk. Come join your sisters, alum and collegians, in supporting this important cause! The NoVA Alum Chapter of PSS has their fundraising Web site up and running. For more information about this event and how you can participate, please contact Michele Dominiak at moochichi at gmail dot com.