Philanthropy

Pratham started in the slums of Mumbai in 1994, as a result of the vision of a couple of committed individuals! The two, after much deliberation, decided to tackle the problem of education headlong. They could see only one way of correcting this problem and that was to involve the people of Mumbai to help the government in its quest of universalizing primary education. UNICEF parented the birth of Pratham and continued fostering it for the next three years. A Public Charitable Trust was accordingly formed by the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai together with the association of several prominent citizens of the city.

Since inception the goal of the Pratham team has been to ensure that “every child is in school ….. and is learning well”. Over this 9 year period Pratham has reached out to a million children. An accelerated learning method, in which an unlettered child starts reading and computing basic mathematics in 3 weeks, has been in use since late 2002 and has taught over 160,000 children since then to become literate.

While we remain active in a range of philanthropic services, the sisters of Delta Phi Omega firmly believe that education is vital to building a solid future. The children of today are tomorrow’s leaders. By ensuring each child, regardless of race, religion, or creed, a quality education and the power to read, we give them the keys to a limitless future. Therefore, the sisters of Delta Phi Omega are doing their part to ensure that each child is given the power to read by educating the public on the epidemic of illiteracy, fundraising for our philanthropic partners, and volunteering in literacy and educational settings. This mission has been realized most publicly through the sorority’s annual Literacy Through Unity week.

All of the DPO chapters and colonies nationwide participate in the annual Literacy week, a week-long effort to raise money and awareness for children’s education and literacy. Half of the money Delta Chapter raises is donated to Room to Read, a local organization here in Chicago that we have established a strong relationship with. The other half is donated to ASHA for Education our national organization we support. Locally, we participate in readership programs, tutoring, and mentoring methods through which we will acheive our goal.

Besides our annual Literacy Week, we volunteer and fundraise for numerous organizations around Chicago. We continue to support efforts in any way possible. With our collective force of sisters; we have the power of creating positive social change on both the college campus and our surrounding communities. Through our commitment to service, we reach beyond university life and remain connected to the university and demonstrate the positive impact that a sisterhood can create.