Kappa Delta held its fourth annual Shamrock 5K on Sunday, March 20, at the Naval Training Camp Park in Point Loma.
The money raised will be donated to two beneficiaries supporting the fight against child abuse. Olive Crest will receive 80 percent of the proceeds and 20 percent will be donated to Prevent Child Abuse America. The chapter donated $21,000 to the cause last year.
Corinne DeShon, vice president of community service for Kappa Delta, said she felt a lot of support from her chapter, the Greek community and the campus community when organizing the event.
“Honestly, it was just such a privilege to spearhead this event,” DeShon said. “But it’s not just one person. It takes a village to make this happen.”
There were roughly 550 runners registered before the event and 20-30 registered day of. The top three runners — Joel Lopez, Marshall Verano and Kalum Bergstrum — received gift cards as prizes.
Nick Mendiola from Phi Delta Theta fraternity said he thought it was a great event.
“Knowing you’re going to run with your friends, it makes a huge difference,” Mendiola said. “We gathered together and ran together. I was surprised at how excited I was after.”
Anthony Cazabat, also from Phi Delta Theta, said he appreciated how Kappa Delta brought in survivors of child abuse from both organizations to share their stories.
“It was cool hearing from them a little bit,” Cazabat said. “They talked about what happens, testimonials and stuff like that, which was really inspirational.”
This fundraising event came a month after a joint effort by Kappa Delta and Delta Gamma called “Together to End Hunger” collected 3,352 pounds of food for the San Diego Food Bank during a week-long food drive, which ended Monday, Feb. 29.
On Wednesday, Feb. 24, the chapters tabled on campus for four hours with bins for people to drop off canned food. Kappa Delta director of external community service, Erin Gonzalez and Delta Gamma vice president of foundation Jenna Rogenski also contacted all four Greek councils, inviting them to donate to the food drive. Delta Zeta donated the most canned food out of all the chapters.
“We really just wanted to do something that all four Greek councils could participate in so that it was a Greek-wide effort, not just Panhellenic,” Rogenski said. “We also wanted to reach out to the San Diego State community just to show the pride that we have in being Greek and the good that we do for others.”
In total, Rogenski and Gonzalez estimated 300 women participated in up to 10 hours of community service between the two chapters. There were 25 cars dropping off and picking up the bags. Each car picked up 10-20 bags on Friday.
Eliza Blank, a sophomore in Delta Gamma, said it was an inspiring experience participating in the food drive.
“There are a lot of people who aren’t as fortunate as us,” Blank said. “I just think it’s really important that kids are especially growing up with the nutrition that they need and families are taking care of their children as much as possible.”
Ellie Tillotson, a sophomore in Kappa Delta, said she thought the event was very successful.
“It makes other people aware that we’re not just a stereotypical sorority,” Tillotson said. “We do things for the community, and I thought that was important.”
Gonzalez said she hopes to continue to do the food drive every year. Next year the chapters plan to have a higher goal for pounds of food collected and more support from the other Greek councils.
