NVAPA Gift Wrapping for Juvenile Diabetes

The Northern VA Alumnae Panhellenic Association (NVAPA) will once again be participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's annual gift wrapping fundraiser at the Pentagon City mall on Sunday, December 16th. As a member of NVAPA, the NoVA alumnae chapter has agreed to provide six volunteers for this very important event on December 16th from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM. So far we have three volunteers but we need three more. Please email dottishields@yahoo.com and if you are interested in volunteering.

Thanks so much to everyone who has volunteered for this event in the past. We're looking forward to another successful event this year.

NOVA Alumnae Chapter volunteers with NOVACO

Under the guidance of the NOVA Chapter's Philanthropy chair, Michele Dominiak, chapter members have participated in children's activities for the Northern Virginia Coalition, an organization providing transitional housing for victims of domestic abuse.

Chapter members have assisted with occupying children with numerous activities while their mothers attend classes. Michele has developed an engaging program for the children including activities such as: halloween ritz cracker spiders, decorating pumpkins for halloween, oreo turkeys, thank-you signs for moms and teachers, and "Where is Mr. Turkey?"

Michele has done a fantastic job in organizing this philanthropy effort. The last volunteer opportunity for this year will be on December 10. The chapter will be donating food to mothers for the weekly meal. Please contact Michele if you are interested in participating: moochichi at gmail dot com.

NOVA and Baltimore Alumnae Chapters host Founders' Day at HQ

On November 3, 2007 over 30 Phi Sigma Sigma alumnae gathered at Headquarters in Elkridge, Maryland to celebrate the Fraternity's Founders' Day. The event brought together new alumnae with seasoned volunteers from the Baltimore, Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. metro regions to celebrate the vision of perpetuity shared by our Founders'. Hors d'oeuvres and cocktails were generously provided by the alumnae chapters, and thus, in lieu of an event fee, the alumnae chapters suggested a donation of $19.13 be made to the Founders' Day Campaign in an effort to support the 2008 NKF Transplant Games.

We were very honored to have several very special guests in attendance, including three Past Grand Archons, Louise Kier Zirretta, Judith Distler and Kim Hildred. Also in attendance were Executive Director, Michelle Ardern, Supreme Council Member, Melanie Boone, and Foundation Executive Director, Nancy (Nash) Hay.

Special thanks to Executive Director Michelle Ardern and HQ staff Cara Fabrocini and Lisa Wallace for offering the HQ space for this event and providing all support and assistance necessary to make the Founders' Day a wonderful event. Also, special thanks to Amy Lewis and Rachelle Seeds of the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter and Michele Dominiak of the Northern Virginia Alumnae Chapter on organizing this special Founders' Day event!

Celebrate Founders' Day!

Happy Founders' Day sisters! I just heard about the great way Phi Sigma Sigma is celebrating Founders' Day this year. I've participated, and I thought of the wonderful sisters of the Northern Virginia Alumnae Chapter when the Foundation asked me to spread the word. They're undertaking a special campaign to raise gifts of $19.13 that will support the National Kidney Foundation's Transplant Games. It's a very modest gift for most, but will add up to incredible support when thousands of us participate! As I made my donation, I thought about how our Phi Sigma Sigma Founders never knew you or me, yet they made our friendship and community possible.

If you want to join me in honoring our Founders and helping transplant recipients and their families, just click here to add your contribution: https://www.phisigmasigmafoundation.org/donate/founders.php. The campaign runs through the end of November. (If you want to find out more, I’m told there’s information on the $19.13 Founders' Day Campaign on the Foundation’s Web site at http://www.phisigmasigmafoundation.org/.)

Holiday Happy Hour at Tallula's in Arlington

It's the most wonderful time, of the year...

To celebrate the season properly, on Monday, December 3rd (6:30 PM) come share a toast with yours sisters (and their significant others) at Tallulah Restaurant (http://tallularestaurant.com) where we hear the wine is fabulous and the food is good too ;-). Don't like wine, that's okay, a diet soda is just as satisfying - we just want to see you!!

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.