National Service Project 2014

Alpha Chi’s national focus this year will be around a theme we are calling “Water’s Future.” To that end, Alpha Chi is thrilled to announce that Dr. Dennis Richardson, Professor of Biology at Quinnipiac University, has agreed to serve as the 2014 National Convention keynote speaker. Underscoring how one person can make a difference, Dr. Richardson cocreated the Bawa Health Initiative to bring clean water to Bawa, Cameroon, West Africa.

Bawa is both a place and an idea about how we all, especially with respect to clean water, should get involved in initiatives to improve the quality of life in local and international communities. We welcome our chapters to visit the Bawa website to develop service projects to raise funds to help Dr. Richardson’s efforts.

Another exciting and new initiative we want to announce is called “Walk for Water,” a fundraising walkathon from Union Station to a nearby St. Louis landmark. To take this short stroll for an excellent cause, students and advisers are asked to raise (through personal or corporate sponsoring) at least $50 each. Each registered participant will receive a special tshirt to wear for the walk, during which we plan to take many group and individual photographs!

Members of the Executive Committee and National Office staff—Lori Mills, Trisha Yarbrough, and Lara Noah—have volunteered to sponsor themselves for the walk. Dr. Bill Clemente, our National Council Vice President, has pledged $100 for the Walk for Water, and President Peg FitzGerald has agreed to match his pledge. We hope to get even more challenges like these going across the map.

Please note that for the past few years Alpha Chi has focused on literacy for its local and national service projects, and we urge chapters that have chosen this focus locally to continue doing so. One way you can do this and still join in our national focus this year might be to choose a “water” theme for the books you collect, donate, or read. The possibilities are as wide as the sea!

No matter how you choose to make scholarship effective for good where you are, we hope that your chapter will join us in this new and exciting direction.

Use this poster to raise awareness. https://www.alphachihonor.org/tasks/sites/default/assets/File/Conventions/2014/Future_of_Water_poster.pdf