AKAs

New York City’s Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Phi Alpha Members Teamed Up To Raise $11,075 for Homeless Shelters

The Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. has celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day surrounded by volunteers and thousands of items for local homeless shelters for the last three years.

These mountains of water, soap, toothpaste, socks, and feminine care products are placed into care packages and driven to local shelters by the end of the day. Last year, the event saw more than 150 volunteers stuff 7,000 items in 550 care packages.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic keeping large gatherings from happening; Tau Omega had to find another way to support those in need this year.

The MLK Day event is usually held with the Kappa Xi Lambda (Wall Street) & Alpha Gamma Lambda (Harlem) chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Tau Omega also decided to collaborate with the Pi Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., another chapter in Manhattan.

Using Amazon Wishlist, each chapter selected items that would be delivered directly to four shelters in the borough of Manhattan. The wishlist had all of the items that would typically be placed into care packages pre-covid.

To culminate weeks of collecting donations, the NYC AKAs and Alphas had a Versus battle. Presented on Zoom, they competed in poetry and singing. The performances ended in a tie but the donations had a clear winner.

The NYC AKAs raised $8,644 while the Alphas raised $2,431; in under two weeks, the group supplied $11,075 in much needed supplies.

“In a time where each day is uncertain, we wanted to show support and hope to our community,” LaChante Robertson, who has chaired the event for the last two years stated.

“For the last three years we’ve seen people from all walks of life come together and participate in our annual MLK Day of service in honor of Dr. King, and to do that during a pandemic shows you just how truly special this project is for our community,” Valerie M. Henderson, Tau Omega’s first vice-president and the creator of this annual event stated.