Zete Kids – A Great First Five Years
Zete Kids is an international philanthropic effort by Zetes in both the United States and Canada. Though the desire for an organized charitable effort had been voiced years before, Zete Kids was announced with fanfare at the 155th International Convention in 2002. That year, a silent auction was added to the Grand Chapter banquet. A Zete Kids service project was made a feature of the annual Convention in 2003. The service project has become a favorite part of the conventions, providing a great opportunity for the actives and elders to get to know each other as they work side by side to benefit the cities that host us each year. The silent auction continues to raise over $5000 US annually.
Zete Kids is a banner under which most active and elder philanthropic and community service initiatives can take place. With logos, T-shirts, letterhead and “packaged events”, Zete Kids helps bring together all of our chapters towards a common goal – helping the children in our communities prepare for and succeed in the future. As part of Zete Kids, a chapter might plan a mentoring/tutoring program, big-brother activities, a haunted house fundraiser, or hospital children’s ward event. With Zete Kids, we hope to foster a strong philanthropic and community service program in all of our chapters.
Zete Kids will also work at the International level. One goal is to have a series of golf tournaments around North America – hopefully all on a single date, to help raise money that will go back to various charities helping children. Many chapters across our Fraternity support local Scout troops. Zete Kids has signed a Memorandum of Mutual Support with the Boy Scouts of America, which formalizes the relationship between the organizations. For resources and complete information, please visit the ZeteScouts webpage.
The enthusiasm of the international brotherhood behind the Zete Kids efforts is strong, and you should expect big things in the years ahead. If you have ideas, please contact the Zete Kids President at Zetekids@zetapsi.org. In the meanwhile, think about how you can help promote our efforts to help kids on both sides of our border though fundraisers and community service activities. We have provided some ideas and materials to help you.
If you would like, please download the original power point presentation from the 2002 convention.