The Heart of Alpha Phi

Alpha Phi’s national philanthropy is women’s heart health. As the leading cause of death for women in the US, cardiovascular disease affects so many lives. In fact, it causes one in every five female deaths. To combat this devastating disease, the Alpha Phi Foundation funds research and educational programs that support the advancement of women’s heart health through the Heart to Heart Grant. Since its inception, the grant has funded over 30 cutting-edge projects focused on the improvement of women’s cardiovascular care.

In addition to the Foundation, we also support the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women. The unfortunate reality is that heart disease is often viewed as a “man’s disease,” leading to a lack of awareness about how it affects women. Go Red for Women is focused on catalyzing awareness and building an advocacy community to reduce the threat of heart disease for women across the nation.

Red Heart Gala

We hold two main events each year in support of these two organizations. The first is Red Heart Gala. Held during family weekend, all of our sisters dress in red formalwear for the event. Family and friends are invited into the house for a brunch and auction. The gala is a wonderful opportunity to raise tens of thousands of dollars for women’s heart health, while also getting to share our beautiful house with family members.

Hearththrob

Our second event is Heartthrob, which takes place in the spring. Heartthrob is a pageant-style show where representatives from MIT fraternities, sports teams, and other organizations from all across campus compete against each other for the title. With talent, modeling, and Q&A portions, our contestants perform in front of over 300 audience members. In spring 2022, we had 10 contestants from 8 different organizations (including our first female contestant!), with Sigma Chi’s Mr. Ben Sheres crowned Mr. Heartthrob.

Our Personal Causes

However, our philanthropic work spans beyond women’s heart health. It’s incredibly important to us that we fundraise for causes that our members are passionate about. For example, in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, helping secure access to abortion healthcare was a cause that many of us felt driven to support. To do so, we ran a social media fundraiser this past summer for the Abortion Wayfinder Program at Whole Woman’s Health.