On Sunday, September 18, 2016 the ladies of Delta Chi Theta hosted their annual car wash. Except this year, with a clear organization in mind, the ladies turned their usual strictly car wash into a car AND dog wash! The philanthropy chairs, senior Elise Cather and sophomore Melette DeVore, organized and chose the organization that the money was going to be donated to. The chairs selected the Quad City Animal Welfare Center (QCAWC), which happens to be the Quad Cities only full-service, no-kill shelter. Delta Chi Theta also has their own Royal Neighbors of America (RNA) chapter- headed by Amie Badgett, Mylaun Griffith, and Austynn Eubank– which also helped out with the day.
Members of the sorority volunteered in the Centennial parking lot on Augustana College’s campus, right off 7th Ave. and 38th St. from 12:30 until 3 PM. The women knew it was going to be a fantastic day when they realized they had raised $500 in only 45 minutes. The event was held over the College’s annual Family Weekend, which encouraged students to not only invite their parents but to also bring their dogs from home. Since this was a charity wash, there was no price, participants were simply encouraged to donate. Not ones to shy away from what can be seen as a challenge, the chairs provided homemade dog treats as well as a bottle of puppy-themed wine to those who donated more than $15 and $50 respectively. At one point, the ladies were even taking song requests for donations! Although the ladies raised a significant amount of money through the wash itself, there were other fundraisers held including: selling T-shirts (which fought back against Greek stereotypes and promoted the QCAWC by saying, “We don’t buy our friends, we adopt them!”), dog treats, as well as a reaching out to families and friends who could not make the wash but still wanted to make a difference.
Clearly the event was extremely successful. The local news even came out! In total the girls washed: 50 cars, 1 motorcycle, 1 lawnmower, and 30 dogs. After all of their fundraising efforts, the philanthropy chairs and RNA got to present the Quad City Animal Welfare Center with %100 percent of the profits which was $2,700. The money donated will go toward helping the Center spay and neutering, sponsoring adoptions, and animal care. Sunday could not have been possible without the generosity of the community, the students, and families. Through all of this support and Delta Chi’s own passion for the cause, profits were raised 500% from previous years! In order to keep paying it forward, over 40 girls have been trained to volunteer at the QCAWC. They are currently looking to organize a sleepover at the shelter with the animals. For more information about the QCAWC please visit at https://www.qcawc.org/ or take a visit to them at 724 W 2nd Avenue Milan, IL 61264 and hopefully you can find someone to give a forever home to!
$2,700 would not have been raised without everyones’ help and donations! THANK YOU!
-Pictures by Emily Lucnik
Delta Chi Theta 
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