Children’s Trust received a check for just over $63,000 from Kappa Delta sorority at the University of South Carolina after a successful fall fundraising letter-writing campaign. The ongoing commitment to the prevention of child abuse and neglect in South Carolina by the sorority was highlighted during a recent chapter meeting. Neil White, who tells the stories of Children’s Trust, covered the event.
Kappa Delta’s O’Neal Best presents check to Joan Hoffman and Philip Vann of Children’s Trust.
Kappa Delta collegiate and alumnae chapters across the country have held events since 1984 to support the prevention of child abuse. The University of South Carolina’s Beta Zeta chapter began its partnership with Children’s Trust in 2008, and since that time, sorority members have raised over a half million dollars for the prevention of child abuse and neglect in South Carolina.
That fundraising total surpassed the $500,000 mark with the presentation of a check for $63,378.64 from O’Neal Best, the sorority’s vice president for community service, to Joan Hoffman, Children’s Trust chief operating officer, and Philip Vann, the vice chair of Children’s Trust board of directors, during a February ceremony at the College of Nursing auditorium on the USC campus.
That amount reflected the efforts of the 400 sorority members in a campaign that benefits both Children’s Trust and Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) America. Best spoke to the commitment of her sorority sisters, who raised the money during the fall semester. She was thrilled the sorority raised $13,000 more than last year, as she saluted the commitment of her colleagues.
Kappa Delta members listen to comments about the prevention work of Children’s Trust.
“Preventing child abuse is very motivating for our members,” Best said. “Some of them haven’t had a lot of personal experience with child abuse but wanting to stop it in South Carolina and all across the nation is very important to them. Having a local beneficiary is amazing for our chapter because not every chapter has that. Children’s Trust is a personal connection for them in Columbia.”
The top three fundraisers – Celia Shoffner, Reid Stokes and Emma Sullivan – were awarded gift cards from Children’s Trust for their efforts.
Hoffman spoke to the work of Children’s Trust, which includes evidence-based programs that prevent abuse and neglect by encouraging positive parenting, developing positive discipline practices, improving parent-child communications skills, promoting child development and well-being, and staying resilient in tough times.
Vann, a senior brokerage associate for Colliers International, thanked Kappa Delta for its continuing dedication to the relationship with Children’s Trust and the impact that sorority members are having as the organization’s single largest donor.
“It’s tremendous. For a group of college students, that’s absolutely amazing,” Vann said. “They understand the meaningful work that Children’s Trust does across the state. Thanks to them, their partnership has rubbed off on other KD chapters across the state (at Clemson and Newberry) to help us spread our wings and do more. It’s a great lesson for these university students that it’s never too early to get involved in your community.”
Being involved in such a significant way is meaningful for the chapter’s members like Best, a Columbia native who’s a sophomore majoring in public health.
“I’ve had a heart for service ever since I was a kid with various organizations,” Best said. “Being able to work with Children’s Trust and a great group of people is just amazing. I grew up here so being able to see the work and to watch it put into place in my community holds a big spot in my heart.”
