Philanthropy
Service For Sight
At the heart of Delta Gamma’s purpose lies a deep commitment to service and creating a lasting impact. Our national philanthropy, Service for Sight, began in 1936, with Ruth Billow, a Delta Gamma from the University of Akron. After losing her sight in a childhood accident, Ruth transformed her personal tragedy into a powerful idea: that her sisters could unite their strength and compassion to support individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
At that time, few organizations focused on visual disabilities, making Ruth’s idea and the sisterhood’s enthusiastic response truly groundbreaking. Inspired by Ruth’s journey and rooted in the values of Article II, Delta Gamma officially adopted Service for Sight as its national philanthropy.
Today, our impact stretches far beyond our campus here at the University of Tulsa. Across the country, the Delta Gamma Foundation has created meaningful change through the establishment and support of five schools dedicated to serving children who are blind or visually impaired. These include the Blind Children’s Center in Los Angeles, California; the Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix, Arizona; the Anchor Center for Blind Children in Denver, Colorado; the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired in Kansas City, Kansas; and the Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments in St. Louis, Missouri. These schools don’t just offer resources and tools, they provide hope to the children they serve and to their families.
While we may not be close enough to volunteer at these locations, the Gamma Beta chapter works hard to support the visually impaired community in Tulsa. We frequently volunteer by helping out at assisted living facilities, the Oklahoma School for the Blind, making braille cards, and by making dog toys for service animals. Delta Gammas are always dedicating their time to helping others. Our commitment and contributions to the Delta Gamma Foundation allow us to see the meaningful differences our chapter makes in so many lives.
Spring Philanthropy Week
This past spring, our philanthropy week kicked off with Sips for Sight, an energy drink sale held at the Student Union in partnership with local nutrition drink shop, The Blend. To raise awareness, each drink came with a fact about eye health or visual impairment. These informative facts served as engaging conversation starters, helping educate the campus community about the challenges faced by those with visual impairments and highlighting the importance of supporting the impactful work of Service for Sight.
The highlight of our philanthropy week is always Desserts with Deegees, a beloved event that combines our passion for sweet treats, community engagement, and service. For a small entry fee, attendees could enjoy a wide selection of desserts generously donated and organized by our foundation committee, made up of dedicated chapter members. What made this year’s event especially meaningful was the inclusion of service dogs. Their presence allowed us to shine a light on the critical role these dogs play in supporting individuals who are blind or visually impaired, bringing our mission to life in a powerful and heartfelt way.
ANCHOR SPLASH Week
Anchor Splash Week is Delta Gamma’s fall philanthropy week, this week is filled with a series of exciting events that bring our community together in support of Service for Sight. We kick off the week with a fun and competitive twist on our Pies for Eyes event that happened during our spring philanthropy week in past years. While still centered around selling pies and relaying eye facts, each fraternity is encouraged to purchase the most amount of pies, the team with the most pies purchased earns the first pick for their performance slot at our signature event, DG Lip Sync. It’s a lighthearted and interactive way to begin the week and build momentum for what’s to come. Mid-week, we hosted a Benefit Night where a percentage of all sales went directly to Service for Sight. This event provides an easy way to give back to our philanthropy while enjoying a nice meal with our sisters. Our percentage night is then followed by Slices for Sight. Guests are treated to a wide variety of pizza options, donated by local restaurants. This past fall we hosted a new event called Serving for Sight, a pickleball tournament that quickly became a chapter favorite! Teams of two signed up to compete in a bracket-style tournament. This event added a fun athletic element to our Anchor Splash Week. This event also generated new ideas that we will be implementing next fall! Lastly, as mentioned DG Lip Sync is Delta Gamma’s signature annual philanthropic event and one of the most highly anticipated fundraising events on campus. This event featured choreographed dancing, costumes, and music. DG Lip Sync draws in a wide audience, from Greek life members to non-Greek students, faculty, and even alumni. Participating fraternities are each paired with coaches and team members, who work closely with them over the course of several weeks to perfect their performances. These weekly practices foster a sense of teamwork and creativity. This past fall, we had the privilege of hosting DG Lip Sync in the Lorton Performance Center, where we sold out every seat in the auditorium. Most importantly, we were able to raise and donate an impressive amount to our philanthropy!
Service for Sight tends to be one of the lesser-known philanthropies, but the money we raise does not reflect that, which is something that we as Delta Gammas are very proud of. It is most impressive and humbling that nationally, Delta Gammas across the United States were able to raise over 58 million dollars in 2 years, this is the most amount of money raised by any NPC organization ever! Having knowledge is important, but so is doing tangible work as it allows our chapter to remain focus on our mission of service!