In a sea of pink and green, dozens of sorority members pitched in to help hundreds of metro Atlanta children get a head start on school supplies.
Decked in their signature colors, the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. visited the Adamsville Recreation Center in southwest Atlanta on Friday and distributed more than 700 bags filled with pencils, paper, calculators and other classroom necessities to local kids.
The children, ranging in age from 5 to 13, were either summer campers with Camp Best Friends in Atlanta or part of the AKA Emerging Young Leaders program.
“We’ve been pumping up campers, getting them excited all week,” said Terica Black, a staffer at the Adamsville Recreation Center. “This is something really great for the community.”
The effort is part of the sorority’s annual leadership seminar, where they mix operational duties with service projects.
"[Camp Best Friends] reaches out to so many students,” said Carolyn House Steward, president of Alpha Kappa Alpha. “We knew we could have more of an impact this way."
Camp Best Friends has been serving metro Atlanta families for more than 30 years and offers a variety of traditional and specialty camps.
Alpha Kappa Alpha, founded in 1908 by college-educated African-American women, has donated more than 223,000 school supplies to schools across the metro Atlanta area this year.
As for the kids, well, they seemed to enjoy the free goodies.
"I thought it was really cool how they gave us all these supplies," said 12-year-old Shadiamond Holmes. "I don't think anyone else would have done this for us."
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