The Francis Marion University (FMU) chapter of Kappa Delta (KD) waged Penny Wars to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse America.

On March 12, the women of KD ran a table in the cafeteria for Penny Wars.  Cups taped with the names of campus organizations, including Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) and Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), were on the table.  It was also decorated with shamrocks that had startling statistics.

The statistics on the shamrocks were related to their cause and used as an eye opener.

For example, boys and girls become victims at the nearly the same rate.  One out of three girls and one out of five boys will be sexually abused before they reach age 18.  Ninety percent of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way, and 68 percent are abused by a family member.

Chelsea Semiklose, KD’s vice president of community service, explained why the statistics were needed.

“A lot of people don’t realize that child abuse is happening all around us every day,” Semiklose said.  “It’s even in cases when a child goes to school every day.  People never think otherwise, but at home, there is abuse there, and people don’t know the actions to take when they are aware of it.”

The goal for individuals was to put pennies into the cups of organizations they wanted to support, but anything that was worth more than a penny was not good for an organization’s gain.

“For example, if Kappa Delta had a jar, they would want as many pennies as possible in their jar, but if TKE put anything with a higher value than a penny in KD’s jar, they would lose that money,” Heather Johnson, president of KD, senior, nursing major, said.

If KD had 10 pennies, and TKE put a nickel in their jar, Johnson explained, KD then had five pennies.

“The idea is to use silver and dollars to sabotage other organizations and keep more pennies in your jar,” Johnson said.

Semiklose said the amount of money KD raises is divided in half: half goes to its cause and the other half, to the sorority.

Penny Wars continued after spring break for KD’s Shamrock Week, which, according to Semiklose, makes the campus aware of what KD does in the community.

She added that Shamrock Week included their annual golf tournament and a chicken bog sale. The proceeds will go to Prevent Child Abuse America.

“For us, our ‘Shamrock’ is the proudest thing we do – our philanthropy,” Semiklose said.