By Brooke Hill | Staff Writer
Doughnuts, candy and being the voice for the one in four college women who will experience domestic violence is what Alpha Chi Omega’s “Fight Against Fear Week” is all about.
Alpha Chi will have a booth on fountain mall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. yesterday through Wednesday in honor of domestic violence awareness month. Monday’s theme is “Do-nut let love hurt” with free Shipley’s doughnuts, Tuesday’s theme is “These hands don’t hurt” while asking students to take the pledge against domestic violence, and Wednesday’s theme is “Your boo shouldn’t scare you,” where they’ll be handing out Halloween candy while the girls are dressed as ghosts.
The main event of the week will be a block party on from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday at Burleson Quad, featuring a concert by Thomas Csorba and Honest Men, who have agreed to take the pledge themselves.
Other activities include a henna station, s’mores station, cotton candy station, food trucks, giant jenga and cornhole. Admission to the event itself is free, but wristbands being sold for $10 will get you closer to the stage, popcorn, cotton candy and a henna tattoo. The profits from the event will go to the Waco Family Abuse Center.
“It’s a philanthropy that really focuses on empowering individuals, especially women since they are the highest demographic to be affected by domestic violence, it’s all about empowering them and giving them a voice and being advocates for them, and I think that is so special,” President of Alpha Chi Omega Grace Bregard said. “It also affects so many people, no one knows the scope of it.”
One in four college-age women will experience some sort of domestic violence, according to the One in Four website.
“That’s insane,” Bregard said. “It’s crazy. It’s in our daily lives, it’s something we can help our friends with, something that if we’re educated on we can empower each other, raise each other up and just try to make the world a better place one person at a time in your local proximity, and that’s something really unique about it that I just love.”
Members of Alpha Chi donate two dinners a week to the Waco Family Abuse Center and send volunteers every Friday. They also put on events, like a Halloween party this year or giving out Easter baskets last year.
Alpha Chi Omega philanthropy chair Katie Galgano said she is passionate about human rights in general.
“I believe that a fundamental human right is the right to safety. Obviously if you’re being violated or hurt … you’re not being able to have that fundamental right,” Galgano said. “I really want to fight and advocate for the people who have to go through that and just help raise awareness that this is a problem because I think its something that not a lot of people talk about or necessarily even want to think about, which kind of just allows it to continue because no one wants to discuss it. Which makes sense, it’s a very sensitive topic…Getting to educate others on my passions and try and be a part of a revolution to try to change the culture around us and change the way people think about it, it’s very special.”
