Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES • FALL 2017 • sai-national.org 8 MUSIC NOTES SAI Serves Down Under S ometimes life takes you to faraway places. But music is always a part of what you do." Lauren Erickson, a Pontchartrain Alumnae Chapter member and flutist, is currently living in Australia during her husband's temporary job transfer. Lauren immediately set out looking for ways to continue the work of Sigma Alpha Iota, as she was now Pontchartrain's "Satellite Chapter" in Australia! A few years ago, Lauren created a service project for Pontchartrain of performing in hospital waiting rooms and passing areas, hoping music would help patients with whatever they were facing that day. In Australia she found a local hospital which liked her idea and immediately went to work with her flute, speaker, and cart, calling herself "Flute a la Carte." e response was tremendous. One particular day she was stationed in the outpatient clinic waiting room with cancer palliative care patients, which meant a somber day for people coming in the clinic. She played her flute, matching the music to the audience: Disney tunes when kids and families came through, classical when adults were there. She noticed the mood of the room stayed light despite the difficulties patients were facing. More than a couple times people hummed along, thanked her, moved from a nearby waiting room to where she was playing, or paused to listen as they passed the room. e hospital volunteer coordinator Lauren works with is thrilled with the response the patients have when she is there performing, and commented, "I am passing this on to my team: this initiative is absolutely amazing and changes the whole dynamic of the waiting area. Lauren is absolutely brilliant. Is there a longer term plan around this? We would love to keep her playing with us for as long as possible." Lauren continues to play and uses music to help patients through their hospital visits, as she does the work of Sigma Alpha Iota, Down Under! Lauren and Pontchartrain Chapter have also started an International Service Project, Reorders for Australia, helping to provide recorders, method books, and funds for a recorder program to help at-risk kids in Geelong, Australia. ese 7-10 year-old kids come to school having had no breakfast, wearing "shoes that smile" (soles coming off ), and survive by either fight or flight. Pontchartrain Chapter and individual members donated recorders and funds to form a recorder band and give these kids a positive experience to help teach them trust and teamwork. Lauren has collected 50 recorders, $230 in cash, and method books to get this project off the ground. e funds will also be used to purchase drum sticks to create a plastic bucket drumming group! As Pontchartrain's representative in Australia, Lauren is doing what she does best: "be an SAI!" — Marie Bonello, President, Pontchartrain Alumnae Chapter Lauren Erickson donates recorders to music teacher Gary White in Geelong, a suburb of Victoria, Australia. A number of SAI sisters from all over the country were in attendance as resident assistants at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute this summer. From left to right: Sherley-Ann Belleus from Epsilon, Ithaca College; Rachel Stern from Delta Gamma, University of Florida; Katie Taylor from Eta Phi, Penn State; and Destiny Cooper from Lambda Tau, Westminster Choir College.

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