Pearls, pink, and green are taking on a new meaning for students in Gwinnett County.
One thousand members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. united to donate 500 backpacks to students at Graves Elementary in Gwinnett County. During its “Power of the Pearl Connection event” held at the Infinite Energy Arena on Oct. 2-3, Cluster V of the sorority’s South Atlantic Region collected and donated the items to students in an effort to keep with their programmatic thrust of “Launching New Dimensions of Service.”
Graves Elementary is Gwinnett County’s newest elementary school. It was named to honor Avery Anderson Graves, a long-time educator who lived on Graves Road and served as a distinguished teacher and coach for over four decades. The recent donation is especially significant given the Title I school in housed in the Meadowcreek Cluster, an area where 95% of its 1,300 students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school’s motto is “Creating opportunities, discovering dreams, and challenging realities”. Clayborn Knight serves as principal.
Aside from bestowing the service award, the two-day event included enrichment workshops, members listening to reports, engagement in fellowship, and Cluster V sharing its recent significant strides. The weekend also offered networking opportunities and a special HBCU-themed reception called “Friday Night Live”. Members even got a chance to greet representatives from Graves Elementary.
“We are so ecstatic that a record number of Cluster V members of Alpha Kappa Alpha are coming to Gwinnett County to strategize how they can continue to raise the bar to more significantly aid the underserved populations in their respective communities,” said Upsilon Alpha Omega Chapter (UAO) President Karan Rhodes. “One thousand minds working together for such a great cause is certainly historic for Gwinnett County!”
The sisters of UAO have received overwhelming support and sponsorship from such companies as Infinity of Gwinnett, Omega Learning Academy, LifeFocus, State of Georgia NAACP, The Corner Bakery, Macy’s Gwinnett Place Mall, Choice Communications, Nationwide Insurance/Michael B. James Agency, Woodward Property Group, East Cast Wings Bar & Grill, Jimmy Johns and Taste of Paradise Caribbean Restaurant.
“We are so very proud to honor Graves Elementary at our Cluster V Conference,” said Nicola McIntyre, Cluster V’s Conference Chairman. “Knowledge is power. We want to ensure students have the supplies they need to succeed.”
Georgia, along with Florida and South Carolina, make up the South Atlantic Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha. The region includes 165 graduate and undergraduate chapters and 10,000 members. As the largest of several clusters in the South Atlantic Region, Cluster V is comprised of the metro-Atlanta graduate and undergraduate chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
About Post Author
