As winter approaches, the sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. held their first annual coat drive to make the season a little warmer for Sudanese refugee families. They collected about 55 coats for women and children and 20 to 25 pounds of baby clothes.
Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit, minority Greek letter organization. While there have been established Delta Sigma Theta chapters in the Omaha area on and off since 1947, the Gamma Xi chapter at Creighton was officially recognized this year.
It was the Omaha Alumnae Chapter who actually asked the Gamma Xi members to organize the coat drive, according to Nursing junior Brianna Burton. Burton is the treasurer and chair of physical and mental health of Delta Sigma Theta and one of the organizers of the coat drive.
As Burton explained, the programs Delta Sigma Theta organizes are based on the group’s Five Point Programmatic Plan.
“One of our areas of interest is international awareness and involvement, and for that we basically want to keep the world and our community aware of what’s going on around us,” Burton said.
“It all just depends on what is in need in the community, and we just try and figure out how to fill that need,” said Sineah Young, an Arts & Sciences senior and the vice president of Delta Sigma Theta.
Delta Sigma Theta members and alumni chose Sudanese immigrants as the recipients of the coat drive because Omaha has a fairly large Sudanese population. Many of the families have just recently moved to Omaha, and are unprepared for the upcoming cold winter months.
Delta Sigma Theta members used social media and their alumni connections to get the word out about their event. Flyers were posted around campus about the coat drive, with contact information for anyone interested in donating.
The sisters collected coats, gloves, hats, scarves and other winter donations through Nov. 13, and then delivered them to families living in Southside Terrace apartments.
Both Burton and Young said that although the event was new and it was their first time officially partnering up with their alumnae chapter, they were happy with how the coat drive went.
Young in particular said she was happy to see that other organizations took notice of Delta Sigma Theta’s event, and was even approached by heads of other groups about working with Delta Sigma Theta next year.
“Next year we’re planning on partnering up with other Greek organizations on Creighton’s campus,” Young said.
Burton also said she was pleased with how many donations Delta Sigma Theta received. She said that the sorority members are not looking to change much for next year, only to increase their total donations goal.
written by: Anna Hensel