Alumni,
In this Gamma Chapter update, I’ll cover two topics:
PUSH America Summer Participant Fundraising
This Summer we will have 3 Gamma Chapter Brothers participating in PUSH America Fundraising events. 2 of them will participate in Build America (Dimitri Dimitriou and Ben Chao) and 1 on the Journey of Hope (Thomas Toan – Rider). In order to participate each team member must fundraise $4,000 as a member of Build America and $5,500 as rider on the Journey of Hope. On their behalf, we are appealing for support from Gamma Alumni. Each of them is happy to contact you personally or meet with you in person to discuss in more detail why they are doing this. Please let me know if you’d like to contact them before you donate. Here is a brief bio from each in addition to a link to their fundraising donation page.
Hello, my name is Ben Chao (Fall 2011). I am a second year at Cal from Redmond, WA majoring in Integrative Biology, and plan on attending Public Health Graduate School after graduation, with an eventual career in the field of epidemiology or public policy. I currently serve as the Gamma PUSH America Chair, and plan on participating in Build America, one of Push America’s summer events. With Build America, I’ll be touring the nation and building accessible amenities for disabled children’s summer camps. In addition, I will also hold an executive role with the Build America team, serving as the team’s Historian. On June 24th, we’ll be departing from our training site in Denver and making stops in camps in Iowa, Tennessee, Philadelphia, and other states before meeting up with Journey of Hope participants in the nation’s capital in mid-August. Based on feedback from previous participants, I feel this experience will change my character and look forward to giving back to my community. One of the biggest reasons why I joined Pi Kappa Phi was the appeal of Push America, and I know that I’ll have my wheelchair-bound cousin Karen in my mind with every nail that I hammer in, every mile that I drive, and every child I meet this summer. However, I can’t do this without your help. As a fellow Gamma, I call on you for your assistance – if you ever felt something special when you were an active working with Push America or if you ever did a summer event, then you can understand the excitement that I hold and how much I look forward to earning the designation of Pi Alpha. If you have any questions about myself or more on why I’m doing Build America this summer, feel free to contact me. Below is a link to my fundraising page. Thank you so much. ODH.
Hello, my name is Thomas Toan. I pledged Fall ’09 and graduated from Cal in the Spring of 2012 with a BA in Political Economy. I was born and raised in Salinas, California and have been working as a Client Service Associate (CSA) for UBS Financial Services, Inc. for the past year.
This Summer I plan to represent our Chapter as a rider on the Journey of Hope. I ride not only because I believe the work Push America does makes a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities, but also because I believe those that participate in Pi Alpha events become better leaders by experiencing the true essence of Abilities, Teamwork, Empathy, and Integrity.
Completing the Journey of Hope has been something I aspired to do since joining Pi Kapp and I have realized that this summer is my best opportunity to do so. As most of you know I can’t do it without your support. I have set a personal goal to raise $6,000. I hope you will consider supporting me and my fellow Chapter members in representing Gamma Chapter. Thank you for your support.
Contact Thomas; Thomas’ JOH Page
Hello, my name is Dimitri Dimitriou. I am a third year Political Science major and an English minor. Two years ago I volunteered at the International Special Olympics when they were held in Athens, Greece. That trip was a very rewarding experience and I will always cherish the memories I had with the athletes and the other volunteers. I am drawn to Build America because I wanted to continue my service for disabled people and I believed this trip was the way I could make the biggest difference.
Dimitri’s BAM Fundraising Page
Fall Football Game Tailgates
This Fall, we plan to again continue the tradition of hosting pre-game football tailgates at the Chapter House. I’m personally excited to see if Sonny Dykes and team can turnaround the football program. As you know, we offer pre-game football tailgate sponsorships of $100 (goes towards food/non-alcohol drinks) for each game in exchange for a parking spot. Please see below the tailgate opportunities for this Fall.
Sat, 8/31 vs Northwestern
Sat, 9/7 vs Portland St (Should be a guaranteed win)
Sat, 9/14 vs Ohio St (most popular home game this year)
Sat, 10/5 vs Washington St
Sat, 10/19 vs Oregon St
Sat, 11/2 vs Arizona
Sat, 11/9 vs U$C
Please let me know if you’d like to sponsor one of the tailgates.
Thank you for your time.
Juan Serrano
Pi Kappa Phi Alumni Association President
