Philanthropy
In December of 1999, Founding Mother Sheila Krishan traveled to India and visited various ashrams (shelters) where young children resided. The purpose of that visit was to find ashrams in India where the Mothers could donate some clothes and various items that were needed. While there, she encountered many young children who had been abandoned because their families could not feed another mouth or because of their gender. While there she learned the stories of many of the children. The head of this one particular ashram was a nun who had the frailest of statures and the gentlest of natures. As she told Sheila each of the children’s stories, Sheila’s heart would break a little bit at the unfairness in life. When the nun had finished, Sheila had turned to her and said that she and her friends would do what they could to help, but it wouldn’t be much. They were only a few hands in an organization with a limited budget. When the nun heard this she replied, “The entire ocean is but a contribution of several single drops of water.” Meaning that each hand that helps is something better than none at all. When Sheila returned to school and retold her experiences, the Mothers realized what they wanted their philanthropy to be.
Philanthropy by definition is “the effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations.” 1 The Sisters of Delta Kappa Delta choose to take this effort one step further by completely engaging themselves into the cause. Our commitment in raising awareness and prevention of child abuse is done through educating adults and children about the different types of physical, mental, and emotional abuse that a child can endure. Every day, more than three children die of child abuse or neglect2 . That is over a thousand unnecessary deaths per year. We realize that we cannot change such devastating occurrences overnight; however, we believe that every ounce of time and effort given to child abuse prevention organizations, both national and local, will help at least one child. For this reason alone, the Sisters work hard to spread the awareness and prevention of child abuse. This is fulfilled not only by donating money to shelters that those in need of guidance, and refuge – but also as a means of physically providing a hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen. The Sisters regularly visit these shelters, in the United States and abroad to give the women and children something to smile about. During our Recruitment events, we educated Interested ladies about the signs and symptoms of child abuse and what we can do to help those who may be in need of help. During April, Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Sisters nationwide host C.H.I.L.D. (Changing Hope Into a Lasting Difference) Week, with activities that highlight the importance of this issue. The Sisters hand out blue ribbons to promote awareness. The Sisters of Delta Kappa Delta Sorority hold this philanthropy very dear to our hearts. Children are our future; to harm them is to harm our existence.