Kappa Guild

Kappa Guild, Inc., was founded in 1955 in Baltimore, Maryland, by ten former members of the high school sorority Kappa Sigma Tau.^[1][2] Initially established as a social club, Kappa Guild shifted focus to charitable activities. This shift was influenced by founding member Sallie Rifkin, who, while accompanying her young son during his hospital stay for heart surgery, noticed a lack of toys, play spaces, and other amenities for children in hospitals.^[3][2] Rifkin and the other founders directed their efforts toward improving the experience of hospitalized children. The guild's mission became: to support children's health and welfare by providing resources to local pediatric facilities.^[2]

At the beginning, Kappa Guild relied on a leadership structure that helped formalize and organize its activities. Rifkin, serving as the first president, played a role in establishing the guild's mission and led its early fundraising efforts, which included events in the community to collect funds for toys and other pediatric resources.^[3]

On November 15, 1970, Kappa Guild presented an adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof at the Jewish Convalescent Home. Directed by Lynn Rosen, the performance featured counselors-in-training from Camp Wonderland in Randallstown, Maryland, with piano accompaniment by Lee Markowitz.^[4] By the late 1970s, Kappa Guild had over 70 active members and was holding annual fundraisers like luncheons, fashion shows, and "nearly new" sales, with all proceeds going to their charitable work for children.^[1]

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Kappa Guild's charitable projects expanded to support a variety of pediatric and educational facilities. One early initiative was an US$11,500 (equivalent to $65,066 in 2025) pledge to the Maryland School for the Blind.^[1] Completed in 1976, the pledge funded an examining room equipped for children with physical and sensory disabilities.^[5] Around the same period, the guild funded a room at the Gateway School under the Hearing and Speech Agency of Metropolitan Baltimore, providing equipment to support children with hearing and speech impairments.^[1]

In 1980, Miriam Stern joined Kappa Guild and would later become an influential member, serving as vice president by 2021.^[3] Stern contributed to organizing social and fundraising events, which included luncheons, bus trips, and annual fashion shows.^[3] Her focus on building strong connections within the guild helped maintain member engagement and support over the years.^[3] During the 1980s and 1990s, Kappa Guild's contributions grew to include telemetry equipment and biofeedback machines for institutions like the Kennedy Krieger Institute's Seizure Clinic, along with resources for the Maryland Kidney Fund.^[3][1] In 1983, the organization donated an US$18,000 (equivalent to $58,186 in 2025) cineradiographic film processor to the University of Maryland Hospital's pediatric cardiology department.^[6]