“Best in the West” poker tournament will direct proceeds to Sojourn Shelter to help victims of domestic violence
"Best in the west""¨ texas hold 'em tournament
Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Covel Grand Horizon Room
By Sabiha Khan
Jan. 18, 2011 1:11 a.m.
The Alpha Chi Omega sorority recruited its founding class at UCLA in fall 2009.
A year and a half later, the sorority’s upcoming philanthropy event has a shot at raising more money than any other sorority event this academic year.
This Friday at a “Best in the West” Texas Hold ‘Em tournament, the sorority will raise funds to renovate a children’s playroom at the Sojourn Shelter for Battered Women and Their Children.
“When you have an issue as widespread as domestic violence ““ it’s really a world issue ““ you need to get as many people involved as possible,” said Zaira Guerrero, a fourth-year English student.
The group’s fundraising goal for the year is $30,000 and they have already reached about half of that total, said incoming philanthropy chair Alex Noe, a third-year mechanical engineering student.
For now, the group is among the top three Panhellenic sororities in terms of fundraising totals, said philanthropy chair Lauryn Caldwell, a fourth-year political science student.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Relations could not be reached on short notice to verify this.
Every sorority national chapter has a specific type of philanthropy each local chapter must engage in; Alpha Chi Omega’s is domestic violence.
The UCLA chapter chose the Sojourn Shelter because it is one of the oldest and largest shelters of its kind in Southern California, said Caldwell.
The nearby Santa Monica location of Sojourn Shelter allows students to plan improvement projects like the creation of a dog shelter on the site, and some members are currently training to work the emergency hotline number, Caldwell said.
Alpha Chi Omega’s involvement with the Sojourn Shelter began last year, when the group held a “churros for charity” fundraiser.
This year, a representative from the shelter visited the Alpha Chi Omega house to teach sisters about cycles of violence and abuse, Guerrero said.
“I realized that these women have to leave with nothing. We try to help these women by giving them shampoo, toothbrushes, clean clothes,” she said.
