National Service Initiatives


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2023-2024

All Alpha Chi chapters are invited to participate in this year's national service initiative. This year, chapters are asked to collect new socks and donate them to individuals in need. This can be on the local, regional, national, or even global scale. Your chapter does not need to be attending the national convention in order to participate in the service project.

Sock-It-To-Me Sock Drive

For Alpha Chi, scholarship is a pathway toward leadership that makes a difference in the world, a difference that is needed and called for, just as those in Birmingham saw a need and found ways to meet it. Among other things, social justice is recognizing unmet needs and disparate access to resources. You might be wondering, what does this have to do with collecting socks?

 

There are many reasons people experience homelessness around the world today-- from poverty and violence to natural disasters. Something that is desperately needed, particularly by those adults and children who find themselves without homes, is socks. So, Alpha Chi is going to gather and distribute socks globally, regionally, and locally in our first Sock-It-To-Me Sock Drive.

 

Doing any or all of the things listed in the criterion below can put your chapter on the path to being a champion Sock-It-To-Me Alpha Chi Chapter! Participating chapters will compete for one of a few GIANT Alpha Chi socks.

 

Participation in the competition is not required. Chapters are welcome to donate socks without entering the competition.

How do we get sock donations?

  • Host a campus new sock drive! Place boxes around campus in high-traffic areas with signage asking others to donate socks. Make an announcement in your campus message boards to let everyone know about the sock drive. Use our flier template to create signs for the collection on your campus.
  • Host a fundraiser and use the funds to purchase socks that can be donated.
  • If you can pre-determine where your socks are going to be donated, check with that organization to see if they have helpful information on preferred sizing or sock styles.

 

Where do we donate our socks?

Choose one or more of the following areas of need. Regardless of which option you choose, get to know something about the organization you donate to and learn something about the circumstances of those who receive the socks.

  1. Donate to an area of need abroad-- a place where famine, natural disaster, or other catastrophic events have displaced people.
  2. Donate to an area of need in your region or state.
  3. Donate to an area of need in the community around your college/university-- a marginalized community such as a homelessness shelter, a mental health organization, or a veterans' charity.
  4. Send socks to an organization in Birmingham that assists individuals experiencing homelessness. We've located three great organizations:

Sock-It-To-Me Chapter Competition

All chapters participating in this year's national service initiative are invited to compete in the Sock-It-To-Me Chapter Competition, where we will award the top Sock-It-To-Me chapters with a prize. Chapters do not need to be present at the convention to win.

Competition Elements

Step One: Write a narrative about your chapter's choice for donating their collected socks. The narrative should be no more than one page and should include:

  1. Reasoning and rationale for why the chapter chose to donate where and how they did.
  2. Explanation of how this sock drive is indicative of Alpha Chi's value and role.
  3. Explanation of how this project ties in with the themes of allies, social justice, and leadership.
  4. Bonus points will be awarded for the most bizarre fact about socks.

Step Two: Submit your narrative to the Convention Committee no later than March 1, 2024, so the Convention Committee can review it ahead of the National Convention.

Submit here!