Mu Tau Mu of Alpha Chi Omega

During September, we'll be offering suggestions for plans you can make to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which runs October 1st to 31st. 

Our first suggestion involves working with our Alpha Chi Omega DVA partners Macy's and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. FVPF brings us one of our favorite programs: the Give Respect campaign. From the FVPF newsletter:

MACY’S SHOP FOR A CAUSE – AN EASY, FREE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH FUNDRAISING TOOL FOR PROGRAMS

Macy’s and the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) are offering violence prevention programs a unique fundraising tool to use during Domestic Violence Awareness Month this fall!

For several years, the FVPF has been working with Macy’s to raise awareness and involve employees and customers in efforts to prevent violence against women and children. For the second year in a row, that work is expanding and the FVPF is offering interested programs free tickets for Shop for a Cause, a one-day shopping event at Macy’s stores across the country. Those tickets are sold for $5 each, and programs keep all the proceeds.

Shop for a Cause Day will be Saturday, October 17th this year. Shop for a Cause tickets provide deep discounts on items throughout Macy’s on that day only. In 2008, this one-day shopping event raised more than $9 million for various kinds of local programs nationwide!

The FVPF is looking for programs to sign up for this fundraising opportunity. There is no risk to programs that sign up. Programs will receive the tickets they request (100 or more) free, and will keep ALL the proceeds from the tickets they sell.

Tickets can be sold to supporters and the public, by staff or volunteers, by tabling in public places or at events, and in countless other ways. The FVPF’s fundraising team will work closely with participating programs and provide tools, advice and ongoing technical assistance to support ticket sales.

To request tickets and sign on, please email FVPFShopForACause@prsolutionsdc.com.

**Please note that there are no Macy’s stores in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi and Nebraska.

Note your chapter can also partner with your local Macy's for Shop for a Cause day to benefit your local domestic violence shelter or program. Many local stores have extra promotions the day of, including refreshments and drawings especially for Cause ticket holders.

  

Do you have a must-read book you'd recommend for someone who wants to learn more about domestic violence? Please share your favorite(s) by commenting on this post!

One of our new favorites is Crazy Love by Leslie Morgan Steiner. Learn more about it from this blog post  http://ow.ly/lc0q and help us spread the word.

Here's how:

On Twitter, post a message like this:

Develop empathy for domestic violence victims & survivors by reading Crazy Love http://ow.ly/lc0q #charitytuesday #axo

OR

Video: Gain empathy for domestic violence survivors by reading Crazy Love http://ow.ly/lbZ4 #charitytuesday #axo

On facebook, post a link to the post about the book http://ow.ly/lc0q

OR

post a link to the youtube videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEsElsHrvC0featured in the post.

On email, send a link to this post to your friends and ask them to participate!

Thank you!!

...is to understand it better and develop empathy for its victims and survivors. Some day, if it hasn't already happened, you'll have a friend you wish you could help, a situation from which you wish you could extract her, and having empathy will help you help her (or him). 

Crazy Love: A Memoir by Leslie Morgan Steiner tells the author's personal story of an abusive relationship - how she and her husband met, the warning signs she ignored, the perfect life they seemed to have, the abuse, the things her friends, neighbors and even strangers did that helped her, her struggle to leave, their painful divorce, and her life after leaving her husband and starting over.

The striking thing about her story is you can see how it could happen to someone who is well-educated, with a great career. Steiner did her undergraduate work at Harvard; had her dream job working at Seventeen magazine; and had good friends she trusted. These things were not enough to protect her from domestic violence. 

So this week, head to the library or bookstore (or click on the picture of the book and order it from amazon.com... a portion of the proceeds will go to Mu Tau Mu's philanthropy projects, including Alpha Chi Omega Foundation) and check it out. You won't regret it. 

Leslie Morgan Steiner reads from her memoir: Crazy Love

 

This week, we'd like to introduce you to the Pixel Project:It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

"The Pixel Project is a global innovative effort to raise funds for Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) Malaysia and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) USA while turbo-charging global awareness about violence against women."

The Pixel Project has the goal of raising $1 million (or more) by creating a 1 million pixel photograph of 6 well-known men who are role models in movement to end domestic violence. For each $1 donation, one of the pixels of the photo will be revealed. All the participants will be kept secret, and a celebrity photographer and a Grammy-winning songwriter have already donated their services to the project. It promises to be an exciting opportunity to use social media to raise awareness and funds to end violence against women!

To participate, become a facebook fan http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52272122486&ref=ts

and follow @PixelProject on Twitter.

You can also check out their blog http://www.thepixelproject.net/blog/about/

and help us spread the word! here's how:

On Twitter, post a tweet like this:

Follow @PixelProject & become a fan on facebook http://ow.ly/knGh to join their work to end domestic violence #charitytuesday #axo

On facebook, post the Pixel Project page to your profile and/or invite your friends to become fans as well.

On email, share a link to this post! http://ow.ly/knHd

Thank you for being a part of our weekly Alpha Chi Omega virtual philanthropy project!

 

This week we're encouraging everyone to vote for their favorite domestic violence charity in the Click to Empower Campaign. See full details at http://ow.ly/jDvO

Please help us spread the word. Here’s how

On Twitter, post a message like this:

Vote for Charity Cars to receive $100k grant for their work to end domestic violence http://bit.ly/3O9xgP #charitytuesday #axo

OR

Vote 4 Family Justice Centers 2 receive $100k 4 their work to end domestic violence http://bit.ly/3O9xgP #charitytuesday #axo

OR

Vote 4 Safe Horizon 2 receive $100k 4 their work to end domestic violence http://bit.ly/3O9xgP #charitytuesday #axo

OR

Vote for YWCA to receive $100k for their work to end domestic violence http://bit.ly/3O9xgP #charitytuesday #axo

And follow @ClicktoEmpower

On facebook,

Post a link to Click to Empower - http://www.clicktoempower.org

And/or

Use the facebook button on Click to Empower's homepage to automatically update your facebook status!

As always we'd love it if you'd share this project with your friends. It's easy - send them a link to this page, or just copy and paste its contents into an email.

Thanks so much!