Special Olympics awards Gamma Sigma Sigma

Georgia College’s Gamma Sigma Sigma Sorority received the Organization of the Year award for its service to the Baldwin County Special Olympics last April and recently received its plaque in a special ceremony on campus.

Anna Morris | gcsunade.com

Members of the Gamma Sigma Sigma sorority serve popcorn to participants in their Diabetes 5k walk/run that took place on Saturday, Nov. 12.

Shannon New-Diaz, Baldwin County Special Olympics Coordinator, nominated Gamma Sigma Sigma for the award.

“I nominated the ladies of Gamma Sigma Sigma because they have been so dedicated and so helpful every year (for the Special Olympics),” New-Diaz said. “They have been so supportive of the athletes and so very supportive of me. Anything I ask of them they are always willing to do it.”

Gamma Sigma Sigma has been taking part in the Baldwin County Special Olympics for four years. The girls get involved during the preparation process making name cards for each contestant, as well as making event cards that let the contestants know where they need to be for each event and at what time.

“We also make a bunch of posters and have our girls go out there and cheer them on,” said Kaitlyn Dietz, senior biology major and current president of Gamma Sigma Sigma. “And the posters say things on them like ‘You can do it,’ and ‘Keep going, you’re almost there’ and things like that.”

The event took place at Baldwin County High School this year and the women of Gamma

Sigma Sigma were there to cheer the contestants on.

“We made ourselves available to Special Olympics in any and every way we could from the beginning of planning through the completion of the event,” said Lexi Kraft, junior English literature major and service vice president of Gamma Sigma Sigma.

Unfortunately, when it came time for the award ceremony, the ladies of Gamma Sigma Sigma were not able to attend the ceremony due to other Gamma Sig activities taking place that day.

“The event took place last April and because of the summer months, we weren’t able to meet up with Shannon until just recently,” explains Dietz.

“It was so surreal,” says New-Diaz, about Gamma Sig winning the award. “It made my whole weekend. They truly deserved this honor.”

New-Diaz attended one of the Gamma Sigma Sigma meetings recently to present the sorority with its plaque for Organization of the Year.

“We are all in Gamma Sigma Sigma because we love to serve our peers and community,” Kraft said. “Being recognized in such a huge way makes us all very proud of our sisterhood, and it is a great reminder that everything we do is truly making a difference.”

Posted by JessicaHayman on Nov 17 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.