On Saturday morning, the Panhellenic Association hosted a 5K to help raise money for Circle of Sisterhood, which is building a school in Nicaragua in 2014.
PHA fundraised through registration fees and donation jars set up at the start and finish line.
Jory Mick, PHA vice president of public relations, said circle of sisterhood is a philanthropy all sororities support.
“The Circle of Sisterhood is an organization of women that uses the power of sorority women to remove educational barriers for women in the developing world,” she said.
In June 2014, 14 sorority women will go to Nicaragua to break ground on a new school.
The 5K was one of multiple events to raise money to create this school. The hundreds of women who participated in the run were reminded of this and thanked by PHA President Paige Tenkhoff.
“Today, you’re part of something bigger than yourselves, so give yourselves a pat on the back,” she announced to the crowd on Saturday morning.
The run started at the MU Student Center with some motivational pop music and mingling. At 9 a.m., the runners took off, leaving from the center and up through Tiger Plaza and downtown Columbia area.
Tenkhoff said the 5K was the appropriate way to end Sisterhood Week.
“Sisterhood Week is a week about celebrating sorority life” she said. “We’ve had much bigger events this year, like Girls Fight Back, and a 5K seemed to be the most inclusive way to end a week of celebration.”
Senior Carly Wooldridge, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, said that the 5K was a good time.
“I feel great,” she said after completing her run. “This was a lot of fun, and a great way to start the morning.”
Circle of Sisterhood aims to fundraise $20,000 by the end of the semester, and this event was only the beginning of their fundraising effort, Tenkhoff said.
“Circle of Sisterhood is doing so much better than we would have ever expected.” she said. “It’s going beyond all of our expectations, and that’s really exciting to watch.”
The event brought together all the various chapters of MU.
“I feel like with each of our chapters, we have our small circles of sisters.” Wooldridge said. “But in the end, all of the chapters and all of the members a part of this huge circle, and that’s what I think Circle of Sisterhood celebrates.”