Local Alpha Kappa Alpha Chapter Prepares for Centennial Celebration
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. has an extensive and illustrious history of “service to all mankind” and excitement is building as the organization approaches its 100th anniversary in 2008. With a national vision of Celebrating Our Past, Serving Our Community, Honoring Our Sisterhood, Asheville’s graduate chapter, Gamma Gamma Omega, joins more than 950 chapters preparing for this historic milestone by hosting year long local, regional, national, and international events. Gamma Gamma Omega will sponsor activities to highlight the sorority’s positive service-related impacts throughout Asheville and surrounding areas. Gamma
Gamma Omega will begin its centennial activities with a luncheon at The
Crest Center and Pavilion on April 22, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. The
luncheon’s theme is Celebrating 100 Years of Service: The Alpha Kappa
Alpha Story, and will feature recognition of outstanding community
service in addition to providing attendees with a chronological
perspective of the organization’s service in the Asheville community.
Luncheon tickets are available to the community at $40 per person. The
chapter will also worship collectively that morning at Brown Temple CME
Church, and sorority members will make a donation to the church in
memory of deceased members.
“We are excited
about our upcoming centennial activities,” emphasizes chapter president
Carmella Davis Watkins. “Gamma Gamma Omega has promoted excellence and
provided support to individuals and families in Asheville for many
years. We invite the community to share in our history and join us for
an outstanding celebration of worship and recognition.” Chartered on
March 31, 1940, Gamma Gamma Omega recently celebrated 67 years of
service in Western North Carolina. Over 40 dynamic members strong, the
chapter boasts a rich history of involvement in the Asheville area.
Committed to enriching its mountain community, the chapter’s current
activities include - partnering with the Reid Center to tutor students
in after-school programs; sponsoring a Mother’s Day weekend Blood Drive
with the American Red Cross; adopting families in need during
Thanksgiving and Christmas; partnering with Mission-St. Joseph’s
Hospital to heighten breast cancer awareness; working with the Council
on Aging’s nutrition-on-wheels program; supporting the March of Dimes;
collaborating with the Asheville Branch of the NAACP and the YMI
Cultural Center to sponsor a candidate forum for city, county, state,
and federal candidates to present campaign platforms to the public; and
partnering with the Asheville Chapter of The Links, Inc. to sponsor
Saturday School mentoring sessions for students at Isaac Dickson
Elementary School in math and reading. Watkins
encourages the Asheville community to “look for enhanced service-based
programs during the year,” as the sorority localizes national
initiatives that focus on the non-traditional entrepreneur, economic
keys to success, economic growth of the Black family, economic
educational advancement through technology, and health resources
management and economics. She continues that “these programs promise to
strengthen our commitment to service, building on the vision and legacy
of our founders.” Alpha Kappa
Alpha, Inc., the first Greek organization established by
African-American college women, was founded on January 14, 1908, at
Howard University in Washington, DC. Presently, the organization boasts
a membership of more than 190,000 multicultural women affiliated with
undergraduate and graduate chapters in the U.S., the Caribbean,
Germany, Korea, and Japan. For additional
information and to obtain tickets for the centennial luncheon, please
contact Jacqueline King at (828) 274-0303 or Carmella Davis Watkins at
(828) 658-1515. A Legacy of Sisterhood and Service - Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, Inc. For more information about the chapter, please
visit Gamma Gamma Omega’s website at www.gammagammaomegaaka.org. Gamma Gamma Omega Chapters, PO Box 3152s, Asheville, NC 28802.
