Last year, Delta Tau Chapter’s spring philanthropy event, Paint-A-Turtle, was a huge success as the Temple University community came out to help to support the chapter's efforts to raise money for the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
This year, Delta Tau hosted an event that every member and the Temple University community could participate in simultaneously.
On April 25, 2017, Delta Tau held a bingo night fundraiser for Starkey in Temple’s student center. This event was incredibly successful, with approximately 100 students in attendance. Delta Tau Chapter raised a total of $4,075.
"With the help of members on the Bingo Night Committee, our Vice President of Philanthropy collected over a dozen donated gift cards and prizes from local stores and organizations within the Philadelphia area," said member Mary Strehl. "Many sisters also donated raffle baskets through their friends, family and employers."
One of the chapter's newest members, Emma Casella, who served on the Bingo Committee, said, “The Bingo Committee put a lot of thought into the event, seeing to every detail. It was amazing to see everything come together and watch everyone enjoy themselves at the event, and it was extremely rewarding to have such a wonderful outcome of people who together raised a great amount of money for the Starkey Hearing Foundation!”
A few members volunteered at Delta Tau's local philanthropy, The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD), located in Philadelphia. They assisted in organizing and facilitating the school’s open house for prospective students. The PSD’s Director, Karen Leslie-Henry, taught members how to sign a few words and phrases to communicate with the children exploring the school.
The Delta Tau members who attended said that it was a very humbling experience and they were so happy to have a positive impact on the local deaf community. Karen also visited a chapter meeting later in the semester to teach the entire chapter the American Sign Language alphabet and explain in further detail how the PSD functions day to day.
This summer, seven Delta Tau members will be participating in The Painted Turtle camp volunteer opportunity. "The Delta Tau Chapter had sisters who participated last summer," said Mary Strehl, "and when they related what a heartwarming experience they had had last summer, we had plenty of eager volunteers lined up to attend this summer."
Sienna McGinnis volunteered last summer and said, “I had an unforgettable experience working personally with the organization we work with on a large scale through Delta Zeta. It was great to experience something so close to our organization first-hand.”
The Delta Tau Chapter is excited to hear about the amazing time the next group of women experienced at The Painted Turtle when the chapter returns for the 2017-2018 school year.