We take the greatest pleasure and pride in presenting our special Sigma Beta.  Our chapter has experienced many changes over the past year, which included a shift in our geographic center, and we have gained some valuable new members as a result.  One such member has distinguished herself as a true gem.  With a demanding career as a civil engineer, we didn't know how much time she'd be able to give to sorority.  Her philosophy has been, "I'll make time."  And she certainly has.  Though new to our ranks, she has jumped right in to help maintain our chapter's solid foundation.  One of her first jobs she took on was reviving the position of chapter Ways and Means Chair.  She arrives to every meeting with prepared reports on all of our fundraising projects, which brings us an organized perspective and has improved efficiency and results.  Once she had that job well in hand, she decided to apply her talents to the Treasurer's position.  After mere weeks, she had our chapter books reorganized and she found a new bank to fulfill our needs.

Not only does our sweet sister work hard to manage our money, she works even harder to earn it.  She has personally organized several of our recent and ongoing fundraisers.  Her first endeavor was facilitating a garage sale at a local community center.  She reserved our spot, transported donated items and helped sort and price our inventory.   Our crafty sister is especially talented with knitting needles, and she has spent many hours making beautiful scarves to sell on our behalf.  Another project that she is spearheading is a sorority cookbook.  She felt it would be a great way to make money for our scholarship fund and involve our sisters across the nation.  Recipes arrived from all over and she has transcribed them, designed the layout and cover and cut and bound each one.  Our friend is ever watchful for money-making opportunities and has landed yet another lucrative project.  Thanks to her, we are now selling concessions during concerts and hockey games to earn big bucks for our charities, and she works the majority of these events.  At Christmas, she donned her salesman hat to increase the success of our 50/50 Raffle and our Poinsettia Sale.  To take advantage of the internet marketplace, she has registered our chapter with a site that donates money to charities through cyber commerce.  Our sister has been indispensable as a breadwinner.

We are doubly fortunate that she is just as generous with her time to help others.  Her favorite charity to volunteer with is a local adaptive baseball league for children and adults with disabilities.  For both the Spring and Fall seasons, she could be found cheering for eager players and helping them field ground balls and circle bases.  She also provided assistance to the league at orientation and registration and even sold concessions.  Our little angel was definitely earning her wings during the holidays.  For Thanksgiving, she bought several canned food items to donate to a local Cub Scout collection.  For Christmas, she went on a shopping spree at a dollar store and donated many bags full of toys, candy, school supplies and toiletries to help fill international care packages for children.  Also at Christmas, she helped finance a happy holiday for a needy family that was dealing with substantial medical bills related to their son's hemophilia.  To assist a local charity for homeless women and children, she camped out at a farmer's market to help collect toys and promote awareness.  She handed out flyers, talked to interested customers and entertained us all with holiday carols in her lovely Soprano voice.  When this same charity asked for help in their Easter clothing drive, she was there unpacking boxes, sorting clothes and helping to organize the collection point.  To offer aid to hurricane victims, she helped donate much-needed cash to two particular families that have relocated to our area.  And lastly, our good friend has been one of our most generous contributors to our monthly Dime Fund game.  Not only does she bring her own donations, she has been known to solicit donations from co-workers for this important fund. 

For a newbie, our special sister is willing to try new things.  While attending her very first Sigma Beta National Convention, she was roped in at the last minute to help another chapter perform a well-received campaign skit.  And speaking of roping, she brought a real lasso and cowboy hat for the Dime Fund Roundup skit.  She sashayed down the aisle with a drawl and a plea to support our fund for college students with disabilities.

Above all these special gifts she brings to our sisterhood, her friendship has been the greatest.  We enjoy her wit and smiles at our monthly game parties.  We can always depend on her to give 100% of her time and effort to our numerous endeavors.  She shows up for every meeting and often goes out of her way to offer rides to a legally blind sister.  Though she is a new addition to our band, she has proven herself as a worthy part of our sorority's proud and longstanding tradition of philanthropy and sisterhood.  We are very honored to call her our Sigma Beta of the Year.