<em>Photo above: Janet Gregory, president of the Lowcountry, South Carolina Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women, accepts the Premier Club of Excellence Award. Photo provided.</em>

The Lowcountry, South Carolina, Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women recently received the fraternity’s highest and most prestigious honor, the Premier Club of Excellence Award.&nbsp;

Pi Beta Phi alumnae clubs promote and support fraternity philanthropic endeavors, assist collegiate chapters and offer friendship to new graduates and alumnae. One large club and one small club, among nearly 300, are chosen each year as representatives of performance that is exemplary above all others. &nbsp;

The Lowcountry Alumnae Club increased its membership by recruiting 49 percent of Pi Beta Phi alumnae living in the local area to join the club, a 20 percent membership increase over the previous year.&nbsp;

The club celebrates its mission “promoting literacy in the Lowcountry” by holding Pi Beta Phi’s Champions are Readers reading enrichment program at two local elementary schools.&nbsp;

The club also promoted the importance of reading through a Fraternity Day of Service event featuring food, drinks and costumes at four different locations. &nbsp;

The club hosted the Greater Charleston, North Carolina, Alumnae Club; Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Alumnae Club; and Savannah, Georgia, Alumnae Club; for a joint 150th Founders’ Day Celebration at the Dataw Island Club.

Seventy Pi Phi alumnae enjoyed sharing their Pi Phi roots with special guests Alumnae Region Two Director Harper Whitten and Pi Beta Phi Foundation Trustee Kathy Wager Ewing.&nbsp;

At the conclusion of the event, attendees were able to purchase the wine and silver blue centerpieces used. The proceeds, totaling more than $400, were donated to Pi Beta Phi Foundation.

“Pi Beta Phi sisterhood is all about caring for one another and the communities in which we live,” said Pi Beta Phi President Paula Shepherd. “We are proud of our dedicated alumnae who worked so hard to serve their club this past year, and especially grateful for the work they did to promote reading and make a difference in the lives of children across the Lowcountry area.”

For more information, visit www.pibetaphi.org.