Chapters Team Up for Success!
Many Phi Theta Kappa chapters find that working with campus, community, regional, and even national organizations is a perfect way to enhance the quality of chapter programs. Check out these outstanding partnerships!
Often local partners can provide the tools you need to help meet a need in your community. When their city discontinued a program to care for local parks, the chapter at Eastfield Community College in Texas teamed up with the city Volunteer Department to take on the task. Vice President of Service Charlie Smith explains, "The City of Mesquite promised to provide the tools and trash bags while we offered up the manpower." With the city's help, chapter members removed nearly 200 pounds of trash from a local park. "If it were not for the assistance of the City of Mesquite, our Operation Green projects would not be nearly as advanced as they are," says Charlie.
Partnerships between two chapters can double the impact of a single project. Christine Garner, Vice President of Membership at Coastal Carolina Community College in North Carolina and Carolinas Regional Secretary, helped her chapter organize a project collaborating with neighboring Pitt Community College to clean up a section of North Topsail Beach. "We tried to combine the efforts of both chapters in a project that tied the Honors Study Topic with the International Service Program." Both chapters benefited from the partnership which mixed aspects of both service and scholarship into a single, successful project. Christine explains, "Members from both chapters enjoyed the cleanup which followed a discussion about the power of a hurricane's devastation."
Partnering with established area organizations can bring important credibility to your project. Pamela Bonesteel, chapter president and Virginia Regional Secretary, explains that her chapter at Tidewater Community College joined with Clean Virginia Waterways to undertake a successful coastal cleanup project. "A lot of local people volunteer for Clean the Bay Day, and we hoped to attract people to help with our project, too." More than half a million volunteers around the world worked to clean their waterways on International Coastal Cleanup Day. The chapter and its partner utilized the name recognition of this international campaign to attract volunteers to help clean First Landing State Park. Pamela sums up the project's success by saying, "We're really pleased with how many people participated!"
Finding your dream partnership can seem challenging, but the rewards can truly be life changing. The chapter at Portland Community College in Oregon formed a remarkable partnership with Southwest Airlines and Common Ground Relief to send 19 volunteers to join in the post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding effort in New Orleans, Louisiana. The airline sponsored the cost of airfare to the city, where volunteers participated in gutting a heavily damaged house, rebuilding a tutoring center, preparing meals, and distributing food and clothing. Chapter advisor Cynthia Sartin says, "None of this could have happened without the support of businesses, individuals who contributed money, and most of all, our amazing partner, Southwest Airlines."
