Service Background
Prior to chartering, Rho Pi Zeta has several service projects already in place. With the adoption of the Dorchester YMCA as its local agency, this venue provided a myriad of opportunities to provide service to a community in-need.
Agency Adoption: Dorchester Family YMCA
Volunteer hours at this facility touch on a range of tenets of the Seven Point Plan.
Community Volunteerism
To date, over 620 hours have been dedicated in volunteer time at this branch. Aside from the programming outlined under "Education", various volunteer events and experiences include:
1. Fundraisers - chapter volunteers assist in hosting fundraisers for the young female participants of YWIRLS. (Young Women In Real Life Situations) programs. These fundraisers not only earn money for programming and field trips, they teach young women necessary financial planning skills and invaluable experience. Some ways in which we do this are to assist the participants with car-wash events, bake sales, yard sales, and donation collection. Chapter members also volunteer to chaperone on field trips, the services for which parents pay a nominal fee to YWIRLS.
2. 2000 Easter Egg Hunt and Fair - chapter volunteers designed, hosted and facilitated a number of activities this Easter at the Y. This extraordinarily successful event catered to over 35 children of the community. Activities included egg coloring, egg hunts, face painting, spoon carry, and duck-duck-goose. Prizes were awarded to contest winners.
->This year (2001), we plan to have even more community participation on April 14.
3. Volunteer time is also spread to the Huntington Elementary School in Brockton, where chapter members assist students with homework and language skills.
Chapter members have assisted in raising over $2,000 for YWIRLS.
Other completed service events include:
October, 2000: Clothing drive for battered women's shelter in Dartmouth, MA
October 31: Halloween party for the youth of the Dorchester YMCA: catered to over 200 people of the community.
November 4: Habitat For Humanity in CT with fellow CT Sorors and the Women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
November 10: Campus Party w/ NSBE & OLAA "Food Drive"
November 20: Turkey Baskets: donated full Thanksgiving dinners to 4 families.
Check Calendar of Events for a list of upcoming service activities.
Education
All programs that are taught through workshops by Rho Pi Zeta volunteers at this branch are geared toward educating the youth who participate in the programs, primarily focusing on YWIRLS, a group of young women between the ages of 9 & 17.
1. Step - a performance program taught at the Y by chapter volunteers for young women between the ages of 9 & 17. It is conducted twice weekly and focuses on performance theory for children, African American history, and teamwork initiative, while using Step (a form of dance traditionally reserved for Greek members) as a fun way to maintain their interest.
2. Monthly Workshops - designed and facilitated by chapter volunteers at the Y - are geared toward the betterment of daily life experiences for the same young women between the ages of 9 & 17. Such workshops are held on the evening of the first Friday of the month and include themes such as: Etiquette, Health, Wellness & Hygiene, etc.
Future plans in this area include: involvement in the African American Achievement Program in coordination with The Urban League. RPZ will be assisting educators, parents and concerned individuals in preparing their students for the MCAS and Stanford 9 exams, to allow them to receive their high school diplomas, and hence attend an accredited college or university.
Governmental Affairs
Rho Pi Zeta chapter has been instrumental in alerting the local communities of the importance of individual involvement in governmental affairs, particularly in concert with the US Census Bureau. This chapter has designed and distributed hundreds of t-shirts expressing the need to properly fill out census forms. They have discussed, in lay terms, with community members the role that this compiled information plays in determining local and state funding and decision making. Rho Pi Zeta has also distributed voter packets reminding people to register to vote and providing them with an overview of the questions that will be on the ballot along with a listing of the most convenient poll locations.
Health and Wellness Awareness
In addition to programming designed and facilitated by chapter volunteers at the Dorchester YMCA, Rho Pi Zeta members have participated in and supported a number of community events that foster health and wellness awareness. Some include:
1. March of Dimes Walk - chapter members "walked the walk" and raised over $600 for the local Southeastern MA chapter of the March of Dimes.
2. American Lung Association "Clean Air Fair" - chapter members raised over $200 in donations for this event.
3. Cystic Fibrosis Walk - walked and raised money to assist research and educational efforts regarding Cystic Fibrosis.
4. Adoption Walk - chapter members, along with YMCA volunteers, walked to raise money for local adoption agencies. The money raised helps fund educational programs for new adoptive parents, and toward marketing costs to increase awareness of the importance of adoption.
5. Boston Komen Race for the Cure - chapter members walked and raised over $300 for this endeavor to support Breast Cancer research and awareness. Chapter members also solicited participation from outside individuals to walk and raise money.
6. ACS "Making Strides" Breast Cancer Walk - chapter members walked and raised over $300 and solicited the participation of YMCA members who also walked and raised over $1200 for this cause.
7. "Breast Cancer: Political & Environmental Concerns" workshop - chapter members sponsored a workshop and speaker, Deb Hochanadel of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, at the University of Massachussetts - Dartmouth. This was a very informative and successful workshop.
8. Healthy Families Day @ Dorchester YMCA, April 7, 2001
Chapter members provided a myriad of activities for parents and children to heighten their awareness of nutrition and fitness issues.
Future plans in this area include:
1. Storks' Nest Programs with the March of Dimes.
2. Participation in the "African American Program" of the ADA. This includes providing forums and seminars facilitated by ADA educators and sponsored by RPZ. Programming is geared toward alerting the African American community of the perils of this disease, signs and symptoms as well as prevention tactics.
3. Participation in the "Open Airways" program of the American Lung Association (ALA). Chapter members will volunteer to teach children, at the Dorchester Y, the importance of substance abuse prevention, specifically targeting cigarettes and marijuana.
4. Breast Cancer Awareness - distribution of materials and facilitation of lectures regarding prevention tactics and awareness of Breast Cancer and Breast Health at the Codman Square Library, Dorchester Y, U.Mass.Dartmouth, Essex and Norfolk Counties.
Chapter Management
Quarterly, RPZ members host a day worth of workshops geared toward educating members on key essentials of chapter management. These workshops are designed to enhance the members understanding of various logistical aspects as well as those not as tangible. Workshops include MIP Certification, Financial Reporting & Budgeting, Constitution Review and Revision, Goal Planning (setting and attainment), Sisterhood, etc. Rho Pi Zeta feels this is one of the best ways to keep the chapter's eyes on proper conduct and protocol; and since it occurs quarterly, it would allow any new members to catch-up and remain up-to-speed with the current workings of the chapter.
