Phi Mu’s Volleyball Tournament

By:Linsey Sumner

Service-learning~ is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates

meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich

the learning experience.

What is service learning?

What is the Phi Mu Volleyball Tournament?

The Phi Mu Volleyball Tournament is an annual tournament that is held to raise

money for the Children’s Miracle Network. It is an all day event that lasts from 7am until

8pm. It is open to any team that would like to play in the tournament. It cost $100 to enter the tournament, and all of the money that is raised is sent to Shands Children’s Hospital in

Gainesville, Florida.

What is the Children’s Miracle Network?

The Children's Miracle Network (CMN) is an international non-profit organization that raises

funds for children’s hospitals, medical research, and community awareness of

children's health issues. The organization is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. To date, the Children's Miracle Network has raised over

$3.2 billion which is distributed directly to a network of 170 hospitals.

How was the money raised?

Each phi mu got a business to sponsor them or got a team to play in the tournament for $100. We also accepted donations, and we had concession stands that raised money for CMN.

Service duties…

• Directing people to the parking area• Assisting with trash pick-up after every game• Getting the volleyball teams registered and ready to play on time• Making sure that the teams had water after their games

…watching the first game

…getting ready to direct traffic

…registration desk

helping Brittany with trash pick-up…

cleaning up before the final game

Children's Miracle Network raises more than $250 million each year. There are 170

children's hospitals affiliated with Children's Miracle Network in the United States and Canada. The funds raised by Children's Miracle Network flow through directly to

participating hospitals. The funds that we raised went to Shands Children’s Hospital in

Gainesville, FL. Our final profit was over $11,00o for Children’s Miracle Network

The positive side….

• It helps out your community and the citizens within your community• It teaches you responsibility and good work ethics. • It gives you a feeling of accomplishment.

The negative side…

• The work can get a little dirty.

• It gets boring sometimes.

Before I was involved in FYE and my sorority, I did not do much community service. I never realized how much that it would help out the community and how great of a feeling that I

would get from giving back to the community. I really enjoyed helping out with the volleyball tournament. It was a fun way to raise money for a great cause. I learned a lot by helping

out with this tournament, and I look forward to helping out again next year.

Reflection:

What did I learn?I learned that community service is very important. It showed me that there are people out there who need help and without community service workers, many of those people would not get the help that they needed. I was blessed enough to not have to use any of the funds for CMN, but there are millions of sick children every year who could not get the help that they needed without the Children’s Miracle Network. My community service not only helped out those children, but it gave me a great feeling. Community service now means more to me than helping out for a few hours because I have to. It means giving back to people who are less fortunate and making the world a better place.

THE END!