Kappa Delta sorority hosted its annual Shamrock Run fundraiser on Saturday, surpassing its donation goal of $20,000. This not only doubled last year’s goal of $10,000, but it also demonstrated tremendous growth from previous years’ events.

Vice President of Events and Programming Riley Young said that the money raised goes toward preventing domestic violence and helping children and families who have been through traumatic experiences. 

“Kappa Delta’s Shamrock event not only sends 20% of our proceeds to Prevent Child Abuse America, but the remaining 80% is sent right down the road to the local Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home,” Young said.

The Shamrock Run capped off Kappa Delta’s philanthropy week. The entire chapter spent Monday through Friday raising money through smaller events like selling pinwheels, handprint fundraisers and “Kake a KD.” 

Lydia Dang, Kappa Delta’s director of philanthropy and community service, worked to keep the tradition of the Shamrock Run while also adding a new aspect: vendors. Dang said that this marked the first instance of vendors being a part of the event. Those at the 5K browsed small businesses such as Rush Greek Gifts, The Good Daze, Linked By Love and the Cajun Gypsies Catering Food Truck.

“If people didn’t want to run the 5K, they were able to shop local small businesses,” Dang said. “This not only helps our philanthropies, but it helps our community thrive in other ways as well.”

Participants arrived at Forsythe Park at 7:30 a.m. for check-in, then began running at 9 a.m. After everyone crossed the finish line, Kappa Delta hosted an awards ceremony to honor the top three male and female runners of each age group as well as the overall male and female finishers.

Men’s first-place overall runner Ean Allain finished in 19 minutes. His second ever color run, Allain said he enjoyed being splashed with color and was happy to get the win.

 “I came into this a little beat up, but I’m not too disappointed in today’s results,” Allain said.

Dwight Rhodes earned first place in the 50-54 age group, having signed up for the 5K the morning of the race. Rhodes said he and his partner enjoyed the social aspect of the event.

“It’s the comradery,” Rhodes said. “We met several new people. We’re relatively new to the community, so it was great to come out and meet some new folks and faces.”

Junior Kappa Delta member Kylie LeBas worked one of the water stations during the event. Her third Shamrock Run and second in person, LeBas said she enjoys that the philanthropy event brings a sense of family to not only the campus but also the city of Monroe.

 “Especially at the end of the race, we were all standing around and cheering on the runners, which was super awesome. It made it one of those feel-good moments,” LeBas said.

Kappa Delta’s Shamrock Run was a culmination of a semester’s worth of planning, cooperation from local vendors and record-breaking support from the community. In the future, Young hopes that more people will participate. 

“The more people that run, the bigger our event can be,” Young said. “That means that we can provide more to our runners when they sign up, and we can provide more to our philanthropies.”