By Allison O’Connor

On Feb. 16, Throw Paint Not Punches took place on Mr. George’s green and was Alpha Chi Omega’s spring philanthropy event to raise awareness against domestic violence.

As the event began, painters were asked to bring clothes, toiletries or monetary donations to donate to the Peace River Center, a safe place for people who are in domestic violence situations.

The organizer of TPNP, McKenzie Bengry, is a sophomore and holds the position of Vice President of Philanthropy on the Alpha Chi Omega Executive Board. Bengry worked for months on planning TPNP and was very happy with the result.

“We heard about ‘Throw Paint Not Punches’ from chapters at different schools and thought it would be a great event to bring to Florida Southern.” Bengry said. “We put this on not only to raise awareness against domestic violence but to also collect donations to give to the Peace River Center.”

She also said that it was their way of being able to give back to the women who have been victimized and see Peace River Center as a safe haven for them.

“At the end of ‘Throw Paint Not Punches,’ we ended up with a lot of clothing, some toiletries and well over $100 to donate to the center,” Bengry said.

Participants received paint after making a small donation in order to partake in the paint war.

As for supplies for the event itself, many of the Alpha Chi sisters helped Bengry prepare by filling water bottles with watered down paint. Sisters and others also helped by creating a banner at the Buck Stop on campus and asking students and teachers to take the pledge against the pain of Domestic Violence.

When asking other Alpha Chi Omega sisters about the event, junior Ashton Hoy said that she hopes the donation process will draw more attention to the Peace River Center and Domestic Violence Awareness.

“It’s really a fun way to draw attention to domestic violence and it’s a great way to get everyone out and fighting a very serious cause,” sophomore Angela Perkinson said.

Many consider Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropy to be a very sensitive topic and difficult to talk about, but if asked, many of the sisters will relay that it is a topic that needs to be discussed and cannot continually be swept under the rug and ignored.

“My hope is that ‘Throw Paint not Punches,’ raised awareness on the issue of domestic violence and really made people think about the victims of abuse and how they can help prevent it,” sister Kaylee Burns said.

Alpha Chi usually hosts one large philanthropy event per semester, but it also hosts PACE (Promoting Alpha Chi Events) around the Buckstop to either promote an upcoming event or to continually raise more awareness about Domestic Violence.

They hope PACE will continually remind others about Domestic Violence instead of just teaching about the issue at one large philanthropy event.

So as the semester continues, look out for the women of Alpha Chi Omega, whether it is at a PACE event, other organization’s philanthropy events or their own events. Wherever the sisters are spotted, they will be spreading love and awareness to end Domestic Violence.

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