Tri Sigma promotes fundraising for March of Dimes Foundation

Nicholls chapter of Tri Sigma Sorority is promoting a fundraising campaign for The March of Dimes Foundation, its recently incorporated philanthropy, throughout the month of September.

The National Tri Sigma headquarters announced the addition of the March of Dimes Foundation into their philanthropy at the group’s national convention this summer.

Since September is the national prematurity awareness month, Tri Sigma will be promoting the March of Dimes Foundation on campus and through social media until the end of the month. As of September 13, Tri Sigma national fundraising, the Mile of Dimes has raised about 22 percent of its $9,000 goal. The organization aims to use the money to raise awareness to prematurity and birth defects, the leading cause of infant mortality.

“We will be donating all the money raised to the Sigma Sigma Sigma Foundation at the end of the month,” Liza Hoeffner, also part of Tri Sigma’s Philanthropy Chair Committee, said.

Hoeffner said that Tri Sigma spread hand-painted boxes around campus to provide explanations and increase awareness about the March of Dimes Foundation.

According to the March of Dimes website, the foundation, originally created by Franklin Roosevelt, primarily funded the research for polio vaccines. Now that polio rates in the United States have decreased, the foundation’s initiatives focus on aspects of prematurity birth.

“The foundation educates mothers before birth on how to have safe pregnancies, helps mothers that have had premature pregnancies, and conducts research to prevent premature birth,” Blaire Verdun, part of Tri Sigma’s Philanthropy Chair Committee, said. “So it is really about helping the children even before they are conceived.”

Verdun said that Tri Sigma National convention felt the need to add on to its philanthropy to address requests of current members and alumni to support a nationally recognized organization.

“Nationals saw that collegiate members and alumni wanted something that they could have a more personal connection to, so nationals started looking for a philanthropic partner that still fit under the umbrella of ‘Sigma Serves the Children’,” Verdun said.

According to Hoeffner, the decision making process was not an easy task. She said that Tri Sigma’s National Headquarters took years to go through hundreds of organizations before choosing The March of Dimes Foundation.

As announced at the conference, the decision was based on the foundation’s shared history with the Robbie Page Memorial Fund.

Verdun said, “They interviewed, worked with, and spoke to a lot of different organizations to see who would fit best and who would work best with our Tri Sigma.”

The Sigma Sigma Sigma foundation will continue to provide support to their initial organization, the Robbie Page Memorial Fund.

The Robbie Page Memorial Fund officially became Tri Sigma’s Philanthropy in 1954. Tri Sigma’s fourth National President, Mary Hastings Holloway Page, originally created it in honor of her son, Robbie Page, who passed away from polio.

The funds gathered by the sorority financially supported the research and production of the polio vaccination. The Robbie Page Memorial Fund continues to raise money for children in need.

“Once polio was cured, the Robbie Page Memorial Fund began funding ‘therapeutic play’, where children in hospitals can recognize and cope with their illnesses,” Hoeffner said.
Tri Sigma Gamma Pi is currently preparing for their fall philanthropy event called Running for Robbie, which is a 5K run that will take place on October 15th. 

Future initiatives to promote and raise money for the March of Dimes Foundation currently being planed by Tri Sigma Gamma Pi includes philanthropy events, such as bake sales, give-back-nights, and dime wars.