This semester, I am the Philanthropy chair for Delta Kappa Alpha, the professional Cinematic Arts fraternity.  As the Philanthropy chair, I am responsible for planning service events, in addition to providing opportunities for fraternity members to get involved in the local and/or global community.  Last night, I planned “DKA Movie Night”, which was a really fun event where we watched the movie Neighbors on a screen outside of the DKA house!

1512571_10205278576270748_4097892110754866456_n

DKA recently established a partnership with Universal, so we were able to get the copyright to screen Neighbors.  Additionally, they gave us prizes like lanyards and T-shirts, which we gave out as prizes for trivia questions we asked.  We projected the film outside, popped popcorn on our popcorn machine, and had everyone bring blankets and chairs to sit on!

1074656_726035177463396_6395410688199491699_o 10592679_10152225425375876_5581077668133698421_n

All of the proceeds from the event are going to be donated to DKA’s philanthropy, The Painted Turtle.  This is an organization that works with kids who have serious medical conditions.  They plan camps and fun events for the kids to help them escape from the realities of their illnesses, and “reclaim the joys of their childhood”.  In addition to donating money, DKA also participates in some of these events, and we get to interact with the kids on a personal level.

Philanthropy and service are extremely important, especially to a film fraternity.  As future filmmakers and artists, the people in DKA have a responsibility to use their impact to give back to the community.  We are very privileged to be students at one of the best universities in the nation, and that makes it even more important to give back to the community in a variety of ways.

Samantha Kaplan-2015

Samantha Kaplan-2015

Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2015, Learn more on her profile here!