HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. will bring 5,000+ members to the Rocket City this weekend with their latest big community service initiative. Huntsville is the host city for the sorority's annual Regional Conference. A.K.A. was the first sorority established by Black women on the campus of Howard University in 1908. South Eastern Regional Director Dr. Tracey Adams said of the event, "We have over 5,500 members here in Huntsville."
They have a 115-year legacy of service and sisterhood. "But we're also going to have some good fun and we're going to spend some money in Huntsville, Alabama. And I know that you all appreciate that," Adams told the assembly.
They are packaging what they call their Childhood Hunger and Initiative Power Packs, also known as their CHIPP bags. They contain "nonperishable food items for our children so that they can take them home," Adams said. "Many of our children, unfortunately, when they leave school on Friday afternoons, do not have quality food over the weekend."
It was the vision of their national president to help eradicate that. "The packs that we will be delivering will go to the Boys and Girls Club of North Alabama for distribution," she said.
So how will A.K.A. create this big economic impact?
"I said we've got 5,500 ladies here," Adams said with a smile, "and they will be shopping. They will be spending dollars with various retailers."
Between the shopping for the CHIPP bags, lodging fees, etc., A.K.A. is bringing a considerable amount of money into the local economy.
This is the organization's first conference in the Rocket City since 2014, and Dr. Adams said Huntsville is the only one in a shortlist of about five cities that could host a big conference like this.
"I saw that it was on the list to return; I said, 'We're going there.' And so that's why we're here."