Kappa Kappa Kappa, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Indiana service sorority founded in 1901 to raise funds for charity, culture and education.

Established in 1903, the Valparaiso Iota Chapter is one of 144 Active chapters statewide and currently consists of 100 members. We hold three local fundraisers; Girls Night Out, Nut Sale and Taste of Valparaiso, to fund community grants and scholarships. Members also volunteer time with community outreach ranging from preschool vision screening to creating art for the community.

Information presented here represents the 2016-17 calendar year, unless otherwise noted.

Day of Caring
9 Kappa Volunteers
25 Service Hours
10 Care & Comfort packages assembled

Tri Kappa helped St. Agnes Adult Day Service Center as part of the Porter County United Way Day of Caring. Volunteers washed windows to let the sun shine in for these elderly adults who enjoy their “day out” at St. Agnes. Tri Kappa continued work with the Day of Caring by assembling care and comfort packages for the Visiting Nurses Association Hospice Center. The care packages let the patients and their families know that people in the community are thinking of them, concerned for them and are supporting them.

Girls Night Out
25 Kappa Volunteers
200+ Service Hours
142 Attendees
6 Sponsors
12 Vendors

September 22, 2016, we hosted our Second Girls Night Out fundraiser at Urschel Laboratories We were proud to feature the local Disposable Theatre Improv group. It was a great night filled with lots of laughs and fun!

Save the date for our third Girls Night Out:  Mystery Edition, September 21, 2017 at Urschel Laboratories, featuring the Murder Mystery Company.

Nut Sale
113 Kappa Members Selling
150+ Service Hours
4057 Pounds of Nuts Sold
Top Sellers:  Whole Cashews, Pistachios, Deluxe Nut Mix

Tri Kappa’s have been selling Terri Lynn nuts for as long as we can remember. We always time our sale so that you can receive your order in time for Thanksgiving baking and Holiday gifts. The annual Nut Sale is our second highest grossing fundraiser and contributes heavily to our Scholarship and Grant funds.

Preschool Vision
36 Kappa Volunteers
85 Service Hours
387 Students (aged 4-6) tested
18 Students referred for further testing

1 out of 20 preschoolers and 1 out of 4 school-aged children has an eye problem requiring treatment or correction. Since children do not know how well they should see, they will not typically complain about poor vision. Eye disorders, if they remain undiscovered, can harmfully affect a child’s personality, his/her learning ability and entire adjustment in school.

The primary target of the Children’s Vision Screening is AMBLYOPIA, or “lazy eye.” If not detected and treated by the age of six, it can cause permanent loss of sight.

Community Grants
16 Kappa Volunteers
122 Service Hours
37 Applications received for 2016-17
$18,700 Awarded to 16 Organizations

Tri Kappa invites grant applications for local non-profit groups serving ZIP codes 46383 and 46385. Application periods are in September and March, with decisions made in October and April. Each organization is encouraged to submit a request for specific funds up to $3,000.  Due to high need in the current economic climate, awards are rarely that high, but we do try to award as much as we can based on the pool of applicants, the purpose of the requested funds, and our mission to support Charity, Culture and Education.

Kappa Art Committee
12 Kappa Volunteers
130 Service Hours
8 Art Events

Committee members worked on a series of smaller community projects this year. We visited St. Agnes Center and OE twice each to facilitate projects the clients could share with their families. At both St. Agnes Center and Opportunity Enterprises, participants created artwork to take home and share with their families. Projects included a painting of a vase with flowers, a snowflake mixed-meda artwork and a valentine pop-up card. Everyone was 100% engaged in each activity and took great pride in their finished products. Our committee felt completely satisfied that we had a positive impact on our happy artist clients.

At Memorial Opera House, the committee chair painted a 12” X 12” canvas that, combined with 90 other painted canvases, produced a collage mural called Meet Me in St. Louis.

In May, Tri Kappa funded a program called Spring into the Arts, a month-long celebration of student art in Valpo. The Art Committee organized an art activity for Finding Van Gogh Day. We assisted around 50 students of all ages in making Van Gogh inspired hats.

The Art Committee facilitated 2 additional bonding events for members only that accounted for around 100 Tri Kappa hours. A group of 22 Tri Kappa enjoyed in evening of bonding as they too amazed themselves after making their own snowflake artwork. At another Tri Kappa Bonding event 17 members made a sign at the Board and Brush.

Riley Hospital Cheer Guild
13 Kappas
75 Service Hours
24 No-Sew Fleece Blankets
200 Knots per Blanket

Traditionally, Tri Kappa has supported the Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis through providing comfort items like handmade puppy pillows, no-sew fleece blankets, and small activities (toys and books) for the patients.

Hilltop Readers
18 Kappa Volunteers
52 Service Hours
52 Children Read to
55 Books Donated

Hilltop Neighborhood House was established in 1995. It is a registered ministry childcare center that serves primarily low-income families. They offer care for children 6 weeks through 5+. 60% of the children served are receiving some sort of financial aid. Costs to families are determined on a sliding scale formula. Kappa has been serving Hilltop nearly from the beginning. Members donated time each month to read to 3 classes of kids from 2-1/2 to 5 years-old. Tri Kappa donates a book to each child and classroom at the end of the year. This Kappa service project is one of joy for the members who volunteer their time and energies with these adorable children!

Holiday Angels
39 Families Helped
89 Children Served
$800 Raised for Local Food Pantry
$1100 Raised for Spring Into the Arts

Iota members have created a tradition of adopting families that need a little help over the holidays. Valparaiso Community Schools collects a list of families with children and Kappas choose one family to support by buying clothing and books or games for each child in the family. Additionally, Kappas run a small members-only Silent Auction at the Holiday Party and donate the proceeds toward some local charity. This year, the Holiday Dinner Committee chose to support both Spring Into the Arts and a Local Food Pantry.

Kindness Project
6 Service Hours
$750 Raised
$46 in Band Aids for the Riley Hospital Band Aid Project
$200 for Lakeshore PAWS Wishlist items
$200 in $5 Gift Cards for McDonald’s, Subway, and Walgreens to Housing Opportunities for their clients
$104 for 13 ice skating admissions for local kids
$200 in Scholastic books for TJ Elementary

The state of Indiana observed Tri Kappa Week from February 19th-25th this year.  The Iota Chapter in Valparaiso, Indiana celebrated over a century of community involvement with a Kindness Project. Tri Kappa Week is a state-wide event, recognized by all the Tri Kappa chapters, as a chance to showcase our chapter and to celebrate our local activities and commitments. Our activities focused on little kindnesses, both to each other and to organizations in our community.

Scholarships
10 Kappa Volunteers
160 Service Hours
52 Scholarship Applications
$19,00 Awarded
21 Scholarships
32 Student Interviews

Promoting education has always been a top priority for Tri Kappa. Beginning in 1920, the Iota Chapter awarded four Valparaiso University scholarships of $42 each. Since then, the chapter has contributed almost $400,000 to support educational programs and scholarships. Applications are available through local High School Counselors’ offices.

In 2017, the Iota Chapter awarded nineteen $1,000 Scholarships. Three categories were awarded; one Fine Arts Scholarship, 11 Achievement Scholarships, and 7 In-State Vocational Scholarships. One local student applied for and won both the State Academic and Fine Art Scholarships this year.

Taste of Valpo
113 Kappa Volunteers
500+ Service Hours
12 Sponsors
31 Restaurants
15,000 + Tastes sampled

Our signature event of the year, the Taste features over 30 restaurants from in and around Valparaiso, Indiana. Each restaurant brings samples of some of their best eats to share with the 1000 participants who fill the Porter County Expo Center hoping to go home stuffed. The evening is enhanced with a Raffle, and Silent Auction. 100% of profits are redistributed into the community.

Popcorn Panic Registration
9 Kappa Volunteers
14 Service Hours

Kappa Members volunteered to help check-in runners for the Popcorn Panic on September 9, 2016.

Capital Projects
Tri Kappa supports large capital projects around town as we are able. Recent projects have included; Valparaiso Family YMCA, OE Lakeside Campus, VNA Phoenix Center, VNA Hospice Center, ValPLAYso, and the new Porter County Community Foundation building.