Phi Sigma Sigma rocks for the National Kidney Foundation
by Christy Kincade

Virginia Wesleyan’s Phi Sigma Sigma members rocked into the night Nov 14, as the sorority held its biannual Rock-A-Thon to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.

Bundled up in blankets and sipping cups of hot chocolate, sorority members rocked in rocking chairs for 24 hours in front of the library. Students and faculty who passed by donated food, money and warm clothing.

Senior Melanie Ludwig spent her afternoon rocking.

“One student, David Wood, brought us each chicken lunches,” Ludwig said. “He had just won $500 in the lottery and was giving it away to worthy causes.”

Others contributed hot apple cider and hot chocolate. The bookstore provided four sweatshirts to a group of rockers sitting in the chilling 40-degree weather.

“It was very nice of all the students and staff at the college to give so generously for such a great purpose,” Ludwig said.

The sorority raised approximately $500 in donations, which will go to the National Kidney Foundation and the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation.

Senior Jaime Sprouse, Phi Sigma philanthropy chair, expressed her thanks to all who contributed and helped the sorority during the event.

“I am overwhelmed at the response we have received on campus,” she said. “There was an outpouring of concern by those who stopped and donated throughout the day. The students and faculty have really shown they care.”

The Rock-A-Thon, held every fall and spring semester, is a national philanthropic event for Phi Sigma Sigma sororities across the nation. Michelle Snyder, the national foundation development coordinator for Phi Sigma Sigma, reports that all chapters participate in the Rock-A-Thon as their national philanthropy project.

“The Rock-A-Thon originated at the University of Pennsylvania, and in the early 1980s caught on to each school with a Phi Sigma chapter,” Snyder said in a telephone interview from Boca Raton, Florida. “Now all 110 chapters of Phi Sigma Sigma take part.”

Snyder said that the money is collected from the sororities and the majority of funds is then distributed to the National Kidney Foundation for research of kidney disease.

The remaining portion is donated to the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation for educational grants and scholarships.

The Virginia Wesleyan chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma was founded in 1990 and volunteers much of its time to the National Kidney Foundation of Virginia. Besides the Rock-A-Thon, the sisters have taken part in Bowl-A-Thons and golf tournaments sponsored by the Kidney Foundation.