Chi Omega - University of California, Berkeley

M u Chapter of Chi Omega was founded in 1902; in 1927 we purchased 2421 Piedmont Avenue to be our home at Cal. For almost 100 years, generations of Chi Omega sisters have lived and flourished in this beautiful space. Today, we are facing a huge fiscal challenge. The Mu Chapter House Corporation is funded almost entirely by room and board revenues. Those revenues are used to pay our expenses: employees, utilities, food, taxes, and maintenance on our home that was built in the late 1880s. We typically accommodate almost 70 sisters. This semester under COVID-19 rules, we are only housing 29 members. As we write, the significant occupancy reduction is expected to continue through at least May 2021. With the resulting decrease in room and board revenue, the Mu Chapter House Corporation is anticipating a revenue shortfall of more than $270,000 for the 2020-21 academic year. The House Corporation board has trimmed the budget where it can, but there have been increased expenses in cleaning and individual meal serving costs. Additionally, in September there was an unexpected plumbing emergency in the second floor old bathroom, requiring an approximately $30,000 repair. The board has wisely set aside a rainy day contingency fund that should sustain us in the short term but we need donations from generations of our sisters to help Mu bridge this very difficult time. Some of you have asked if Chi Omega National could help fund our gap. Sadly, we do not have the ability to repay a loan at this time. In early September we launched the Supporting Our Sisters fundraising campaign to raise $100,000 to help bridge the gap. The funds will go to the Mu Chapter House Corporation for the purpose of offsetting the revenue shortfall. Simply put, your donation will help keep the lights on. As of November 10, 2020, we have received donations from more than 155 sisters and raised more than $47,000. If you have already contributed, thank you! Members of the Mu House Corporation board and advisory board have contributed. The Stanford Chi Omega Nu Alpha Chapter House Corporation made a contribution. Sisters from other chapters have contributed. We now need your help to meet and exceed our fundraising goal. We hope to have at least 400 sisters make a direct donation to this fundraising effort to specifically support Mu Chapter House Corporation. This cannot happen without you; every donation counts. We have contacted sisters by email, phone, social media and now the Mu News. If this is your first awareness of this need we may not have a current email or phone number for you. Please be sure to update your contact information with our communications coordinator at chammond@penningtonco.com and Chi Omega at chiomega@chiomega.com. We also invite you to connect with the Mu Alumnae Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/24023066854 and the Mu Chapter of Chi Omega Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/calchiomega. Visit calchiomega.causevox.com to Donate to Mu Today We have two asks: First, please visit calchiomega.causevox.com to donate by credit card, see the names of our sisters who have already given, and to watch our progress toward our $100,000 goal. If you prefer to send a check: Make Payable to: Chi Omega Association Memo line: SOS Campaign Mail to: Chi Omega, Cal-Berkeley, Payment Processing PO Box 2187, Columbus, GA 31902-2187 If you would like, please include a message with your check and we will post it for you on the Cal Chi O SOS website. Second, please spread the word about this fundraising campaign to our sisters by emailing them the link to our website calchiomega.causevox.com or sharing it on your social media. We need your help to reach as many sisters as possible! As always, please reach out to either of us for more information. We'll try, we'll vie, we'll never die! Chi Omega, Chi Omega, Chi! Mu Chapter! Loyally, Dee Hawk Pearce '63 and Leslie Boley Robbins '87 Campaign Co-Chairwomen DeeLeslieCalChiO@gmail.com Mu Chapter House Corporation Launches $100,000 Fundraising Campaign MU NEWS Χ Ω Mu Chapter of Chi Omega at the University of California-Berkeley Fall 2020

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