The Make-A-Wish Foundation

Nationally, Chi Omega supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a philanthropy that all Chi Omega chapters share. The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions, allowing magic to happen in the lives of these children and their families. Through the experiences granted by Make-A-Wish, our aim is to make a difference and enhance the lives of children and families as they fight these illnesses together. Chi Omega’s greatest source of fundraising is through our annual “Wake Up for a Wish” pancake breakfast and annual Wish Week. We also participate in many other fundraising opportunities through various store promotions, trunk shows, percentage nights, and t-shirt sales throughout the year. The monetary donations that we are able to collect go towards granting some of life’s most important wishes.

In the 2024 spring semester, Chi Omega Nu Beta raised $28,848.50 for Make-A-Wish!

Philanthropy

Wish Week

In the spring semester of 2024, we decided to host our seventh annual Wish Week. With a goal to grant a wish all on our own in just one week, we planned a week where not only our members but the entire University could help our Wish Kid. We kick-started the week with a donut wall, asking people ‘Donut You Wanna Make-A-Wish?’. Raising over a fourth of our goal in a single day, gave our girls the motivation to reach the $8,000 to grant our Wish Kid’s wish. Numerous trunk shows came to the house, donating 15-20% of their sales to our week, as well as shops donating a percent back all week. This semester, we incorporated two new events to get our campus involved in our cause! The first being ‘Pie-A-Chi-O’ where anyone can come to our front patio, donate money to Make-A-Wish, and get to pie their favorite Chi O friend in the face! Second being ‘Chi-O-Crawfish’ where members sell tickets for live music and all-you-can-eat crawfish! Every member and the campus as a whole put their heart and soul into granting that wish, and we could not have been more excited to send our Wish Kid on a dream getaway to Hawaii at the end of the week. 
 
Our chapter’s favorite aspect of our partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation is the Wish Granting parties. We have been able to host several parties at our house revealing to Wish Kids that their wish is being granted! This hands-on experience with our philanthropy has been deeply meaningful to the chapter and has brought a renewed passion for our work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. All members are invited to help in the party planning process and attend the Wish Granting parties. In fall 2018, we hosted a Spiderman and Alabama football-themed wish-granting party with a surprise Bryant Denny Stadium tour! After their meet-and-greet with the head football coach Nick Saban, and the football team, they came to the Chi Omega house for a combined Alabama football and Spiderman-themed party that had all his favorite foods and Spiderman-themed games. In spring 2019, we hosted another wish-granting party for a young boy who is a fishing enthusiast who dreamed of going on an Alaskan cruise. Most recently, this March, we turned our dining room into a tropical-themed party to tell our wish kid that we were sending her to Hawaii! These parties are a favorite pastime of our chapter and we cannot wait to continue to grant more wishes in the near future!