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Jul/Aug 2025 | Vol. 82 No. 4

DKG INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS FOUNDATION COLUMN

DKGIEF and You: From Disaster to Hope

ince 1948, the Emergency Fund—one of nine funds managed by the DKG International
SEducators Foundation (DKGIEF)—has offered critical support to DKG members in times

of crisis. It began when members responded to the devastation of a flood in Vanport, Oregon.
Today, DKG continues this tradition of compassion, offering U.S. $500 in immediate aid from the Emergency
Fund to members worldwide who suffer significant losses due to natural disasters.
From July 1, 2024, to May 9, 2025, DKGIEF awarded emergency funds totaling $103,500 to 207 DKG members
in Texas, Iowa, Alabama, Vermont, Quebec, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky,
South Carolina, California, and Tennessee.

How to Request Emergency Support:
1. The affected member contacts her chapter president.
2. The chapter president notifies the state organization president.
3. The state organization president submits Form 84 (available
on the DKG website) to the Executive Director, ensuring the
member’s current mailing address is included.
4. Upon approval, a check for $500 is mailed directly to the
member.

Living Through Disaster
Stories from recent Emergency Fund recipients

reflect the fund’s meaningful impact:

Kim Frank, CA, Eaton Fire:
At the beginning of January, our lives changed in an instant due to the tragic fires in Altadena, California.
When we left our home in the evening, we expected to come back the next morning to get a few more things;
little did we know that our home and everything in it would not survive the firestorm. The devastation to our
home, our neighborhood, and our community is tough to see. Every day is a new journey! We have felt the
love and support every day from family, friends, and organizations like DKG! We feel blessed knowing that
we will make it through, THANKS TO YOU!! The financial support is tremendous as we start to REBUILD our
lives and our home. Due to everyone’s generosity, we will have a little part of everyone we know inside our
new home!

Christine Faircloth, NC, Hurricane Helene:

I am thankful for the DKG Emergency Fund! I have a vacation home in Seven Devils, NC, [in the mountains
of western NC] that was affected by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. I was fortunate that the house
is a vacation retreat, and I did not have food stored in the refrigerator. I am also thankful that there was no
structural damage to the house. However, because of the severity of the damage to the roads to my home,
I was not allowed there until mid-October.
When I was able to observe the damage, I found that the gutters had been blown off the house, and
See DKGIEF p. 6

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