For 17 years, the ETSU chapter of Kappa Delta sorority has held a “seesaw-a-thon” to help raise money for their campaign against child abuse.
With the turn of the millennium, they decided to try something different. Judging by the funds raised, it’s going to be a good 1,000 years.
Last weekend, the sorority held a shotgun golf tournament at the Cattails course in Kingsport.
The result was a hole-in-one – approximately $8,600 was raised, far above last year’s $6,000 in contributions.
Though that figure falls short of Kappa Delta’s stated $10,000 goal, Kappa Delta member Bethany Henderson did not lose sight of the main accomplishment.
“Our main goal was to get the awareness out,” Henderson said.
Indeed, several community leaders were on hand for the event.
The ETSU contingent included both Wayne Andrews, vice president for student affairs, and Sally Lee, associate vice president in that office.
Deb Schurger, director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Sullivan County, spoke on behalf of the Coalition for Kids, and Stacy McCloud, aka Miss Johnson City, also delivered an address at the event.
Since it has been recently reported that Sullivan County has significantly more child abuse cases than the national average, the issue has come to the forefront.
On Monday, the advocacy center proclaimed April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Henderson said 40 percent of the money raised will go to the Coalition for Kids, another 40 percent to the advocacy center, and the remaining funds go to the national headquarters of the Shamrock Project.
The success did not come effortlessly, as Henderson noted.
“This is not just like a week-long project,” she said about Kappa Delta’s diligence. “We worked for this all year long.”
Evidence of their work has been all over campus, as blue ribbons tied to lampposts with the program’s slogan, “It shouldn’t hurt to be a child.

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