How many times have you heard that Millennials are entitled? That an entire generation played on sports teams where everybody was a winner, and nobody was a loser, and everyone received a trophy? While Millennials may get a bad rap, I’ve met many Millennial women whose accomplishments impress and motivate me.
One of these women is Virginia Zeta Kelsey Clark. By the time Kelsey started college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, she had already started her own 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with her best friend. The organization is called Charitable Act and provides underprivileged children the opportunity to learn and enjoy theater arts by attending summer theater camps.
In recent years, education budgets were slashed across the nation and many schools had to cut or decrease their visual and performing arts programs. Participation in extracurricular arts programs was often costly and not readily available in some neighborhoods. Kelsey and her friend were fortunate to grow up doing musical theater and thought all children, regardless of socioeconomic status, should have access to musical theater.
The first summer that Charitable Act took place, Kelsey helped recruit campers and then acted as camp counselor. The group put on “Seussical,” a show based off the books of Dr. Seuss. The campers got to experience the theater production from start to finish, beginning with auditions where they sang “Happy Birthday” aloud. Then they learned dances and choreography, practiced acting and singing and created costumes, sets and props. The camp concluded with a live performance for families and friends.
“In the beginning, the children were shy and wouldn’t smile or talk to us,” Kelsey said. “But by the end of camp, they were smiling from ear to ear and giving us hugs. I even had a girl come up to me and say thank-you and explain how much the camp meant to her. It was cool to hear because I hadn’t realized how fortunate I had been growing up, and how grateful these children were for the opportunity to experience something they had never done before.”
Today, Kelsey is using the skills she learned through Charitable Act in her role as External Philanthropy Chair for the Virginia Zeta Chapter. The role requires Kelsey to coordinate the chapter’s participation in other fraternity and sorority philanthropy events as well as community service events on campus. “It’s awesome to be able to make a difference with many different causes,” Kelsey said. “I think sometimes my sisters may attend events out of necessity, but I hope to get everyone excited about the causes and help them learn more about the diverse groups we are helping.”