Kappa Delta raised an estimated $40,000 at the sorority’s 11th annual “Reach for the Sky” auction last Friday. Proceeds were donated to the Children’s Trust Foundation, a Washington state nonprofit organization that works to prevent child abuse.

The Children’s Trust Foundation funds family support centers across Washington state, providing parents with the necessities to handle raising a child in a positive, productive way, according to its Web site.

“The attendance was fantastic, the room was filled, the atmosphere was festive and the cause was important to everyone who was there,” said Colleen deCillia, Kappa Delta’s alumni president.

Last year, the sorority’s UW chapter raised $29,000, the fourth highest of all Kappa Delta chapters nationwide. This year, the event raised $20,000 in straight donations, co-chair Kailey Tollefson said.

“Everything went really smoothly and we had a bigger turnout than expected,” Tollefson said.

DeCillia said she was proud of the work the sorority members put forth for the event.

“It has grown into an auction put on by volunteer college women that is as classy and successful as any professional auction I have been to,” she said.

The keynote speaker was former Washington State Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge, who talked about the importance of educating people about child abuse and why child abuse is an issue in Washington, Tollefson said. King 5 news anchor Brad Goode was the master of ceremonies and auctioneer for the event.

The aspiration for the event was to raise more money than last year, and that goal was accomplished.

When asked to describe the event in one word, Tollefson said it was inspirational.

The sentiment seemed to flow throughout the crowd, as parents, families, friends and alums came to support the sorority women in their efforts to aid the Children’s Trust Foundation, deCillia said.

“Their faces said it all and their smiles were contagious,” she said.

Kappa Delta donates to the Children’s Trust Foundation because it is in alignment with its national philanthropy, Prevent Child Abuse America, which Kappa Delta has been working with since 1981.

Nationally, Kappa Delta has donated more than $7.1 million to date to help prevent child abuse in the United States, according to the Kappa Delta Web site.

[Reach reporter Celia Hunko at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]