MU MUMBLES January 1, 2016 - University of Wisconsin - Mu Chapter RIVALRY RUN HUMOROLOGY This year’s Rivalry Run, on October 3rd, was unbelievably successful. Partnering with Iowa Fijis, we ran the distance between the two schools, just over 190 miles, in approximately 25 hours without stoping. Running to benefit the United Service Organization (USO), we raised over $12,000 as a chapter. Combined with Iowa, the run raised over $20,000. The money will go to helping all of our troops and their families, both at home and overseas. Due to the size of our donation, the Mu Chapter’s name will be engraved on a future war memorial to be built by the USO-Wisconsin chapter in Milwaukee. We are excited to continue are partnership with the USO in the coming year by volunteering with them and continuing Rivalry Run each fall. This year in Humorology FIJI is paired with the Delta Gamma Sorority. We have spent all semester perfecting our show. While we have been drilling our show, we have been fundraising to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of the Greater Dane County and the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. The results for our cast as a whole were outstanding. We finished first place in fundraising totals for the semester, and finished in the top three best shows at tryouts. We are looking forward to another semester of hard work. Make sure to come see the show on April 7-9 Inside this Issue HUMOROLOGY 2 GIVING BACK: THE CLEAN LAKE ALLIANCE 2 THANK YOU! 3 MAKE YOURSELF IMMORTAL 4 \r\nMU MUMBLES FIJI ISLAND CUP Last April, we put on our 2nd Annual FIJI Island Cup philanthropy event and we saw a lot of growth from the previous year. The Island Cup is a week-long series of events put on at the house for all the sororities to participate and compete in. The events included a puppy day (nothing competitive here, just hanging out with puppies), a MadHatters A Capella Concert, followed by a sorority sing off, a game night with sand castle building contests, limbo, tug of war and a trivia/awards night. With over 300 participants we raised over $10,000 for the American Family Children’s Hospital here in Madison. Looking forward to Island Cup 2016: We are looking forward to our 3rd Annual FIJI Island Cup this coming April. We will be holding another week of events, this time with the proceeds benefiting the Fond Blanc Foundation - an orphanage in Haiti. We are extremely excited to be working with the Fond Blanc Foundation, and we hope to raise over $15,000, which could be funding for their entire teach staff for the next school year. Our goals for the event extends past monetary values as we hope to incorporate more of the campus and spread further awareness for the cause. GIVING BACK: THE CLEAN LAKES ALLIANCE As a chapter, we have started to partner with the Clean Lakes Alliance (CLA) in helping keep Lake Mendota healthy. In our first event with them, this past November, we had a large group of brothers help the CLA rake leaves in the parks and out of the gutters. The reason we helped do this is to protect from unhealthy algae build up in the lake. When rain-water runs over dead leaves it creates phosphorous, which runs into the gutters and eventually into the lake. The harmful algae grows because of this phosphorus and it negatively impacts the lake. In the coming semester, we will be helping the CLA put on their annual Frozen Assets Festival on the lake behind 16 Langdon and the Edgewater. We will be helping them by building a large ice rink for their events as well as helping staff their events. A FOCUS ON PHILANTHROPY Page 2 This year, we pushed ourselves to be more involved in the community and increase the mandatory number of service hours per brother/per semester, from 10 to 15 hours. Brothers attacked this goal and got involved in many more organizations in and around the campus. \r\nJAN 2016 THANK YOU, BROTHERS! Thank you to all the graduate brothers and families that donated to our philanthropic events over the past year. We are extremely grateful for your donations as we begin to make philanthropy and service a top priority. It is difficult to raise donations from college students who are generally less likely to give, so any help we receive from our graduate brothers is crucial in allowing us achieve our goals. As we move forward with this aim we invite you to join us. Your help is appreciated more than you know! It is truly an amazing experience to give back to and with your help we hope to continue to positively impact our community. MU CONCESSION STAND: UW MEN’S BASKETBALL We have also begun to work a concession stand at each men’s basketball game at the Kohl Center. Through working the stands, we in turn get a donation of 10% of sales for each game to our philanthropy. So, if you are ever at a University of Wisconsin Basketball game stop by the stand at section 212 – that is generally where we will be. This fall, we initiated 29 new brothers. 140 Miles raising more than $20,000. Thank you brothers! Page 3 \r\nNonprofit Org US Postage Paid Lexington, KY Permit # 540 Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity Mu at University of Wisconsin 1201 Red Mile Road P.O. Box 4599 Lexington, KY 40544 MU MUMBLES JANUARY 2015 MU CHAPTER AT UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON MAKE YOURSELF IMMORTAL! Phi Gamma Delta is teaming up with Donate Life to increase the number of organ donors across North America. This joint venture is called the Immortal Phi Gam project. There are more than 125,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in the United States and Canada, with approximately 150 names added to the waiting list every day. About 79 organ transplants take place every day, but sadly, approximately 22 people die every day because they did not receive an organ in time. The good news is that together Phi Gams can make a tremendous difference. One organ donor can save or improve the lives of up to 50 other people! Making yourself immortal is an easy 3-step process. 1. Go to www.phigam.org/immortalphigam and register at the bottom of the web page. 2. Click on the link on the same web page that will take you to Donate Life’s map page. Click on the state or province where you are licensed to drive or live and register to become an organ donor. This step is unnecessary if your driver’s license in the U.S. or insurance card in Canada already shows that you are an organ donor, but register again if you are uncertain. 3. Tell your parents, spouse, family members, and loved ones that you want to donate your organs when you die. If you are already a registered donor through your state or province, please register with the Fraternity as well at www.phigam.org/immortalphigam to help track the number of brothers who have made this life-saving decision.