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Alpha Phi Foundation"LIVE A LIFE OF PURPOSE"
History and Purpose
In 1956, Alpha Phi was one of the first women's fraternities to establish a Foundation. Demonstrating the philanthropic spirit of love and charity intended by our Founders, the Foundation was created as a trust to award grants specifically for scholarship and cardiac aid. One of the Foundation’s giving circles is named after founder Clara Bradley Burdette, who was also a philanthropist and funded a maternity wing at Pasadena Hospital in 1904. Her prime objective in life was developing better opportunities for women, and one of her personal mottos was to "live a life of purpose." Today, the original priorities of Alpha Phi Foundation remain. Additionally, it empowers women to be generous givers. The Foundation’s mission is to raise and award funds for programs that advance leadership development, encourage academic excellence, improve women’s heart health, support sisters in need and educate about the value of philanthropy. It is well known and respected internationally as a prominent philanthropic leader for the Greek community. Our Foundation completed a ten million dollar campaign for leadership in 2010, the largest in National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) history. It also receives nearly one million dollars annually from collegiate chapters that host evening galas, heart walks and campus-wide talent shows. Why Women’s Heart Health? In 1946, Alpha Phis gathered at Convention in Quebec – the hot topic: adopting an international philanthropic cause. During World War II, countless philanthropy projects were successful at the international level. “…Wartime projects were very successful and had given us an idea of what we could do as a unified whole,” wrote Catherine Wilson Storment, the first cardiac aid chairman, in the 1947 Winter Quarterly. Now the question became: “What would Alpha Phi do in peacetime?” At that time, rheumatic fever – a disease that causes serious, debilitating damage to the heart – was a leading killer of school age children in the United States. Alpha Phi wanted to help these children, but it also wanted freedom to contribute money and service to other programs. Cardiac aid fit the bill – chapters and members were able to donate funds and service to various educational and research projects. During the next few decades, modern antibiotic therapy sharply reduced mortality and cases of rheumatic fever became rare. Heart disease became the #1 killer of women in North America, and Alpha Phi Foundation thought it fitting that an organization of women help fight it. Click here for more information! |