THE EAST CENTRAL PROVINCE YEAR IN REVIEW GALLERY
Cleveland (OH) Alumni Gave "All Year Round"
T he brothers of the Cleve- land (OH) Alumni Chapter refused to let the CO- VID-19 pandemic prevent them from providing service in the public interest. The brothers con- tinued on with their monthly food distribution, in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Foodbank. The brothers operate the food distribution on the second Saturday of the month from April - November. The food distribution takes place in the parking lot of the senior-living complex owned and operated by the Chapter, rain, shine, or snow, Cleveland (OH) Alumni brothers show up to unload produce, box or bag it, and distribute it to 100+ residents of Kappa House 1 & Kappa House 2. The brothers also work with elected officials and neighbor- hood leadership to advertise the monthly distributions, and to distribute food to members of the neighborhood. The pandemic motivated brothers to become more efficient with the distribution of the food. In the past, community members were encouraged to pick their own food, occasionally leaving food left behind. In these instances, the brothers were forced to discard good food. Altering the distribu- tion to allow brothers to deliver food to the residents and pack
them in community members’ ve- hicles allowed brothers to distrib- ute more of the food provided by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. The brothers hope and expect that the food receivers also found new recipes for their fresh produce! Examples of service for the chapter continued. For example, on Dec 17 th , The Cleveland Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. was proud to successfully hold its 38 th Annual Lionel “Whip” Reed Toy Give- away for the children of Sunbeam Elementary. A big thanks is ex- tended to Sunbeam Principal Ms. Jessica Humphries, Polemarch Brian Webster and Chairman and Strategus William Eric Hills for making sure that even dur- ing the pandemic the event was able to go forward. This year, in addition to providing toys for over 270 students, Cleveland (OH) Alumni providing 300 turkeys to giveaway along with the school’s monthly food giveaway to enhance this year’s event. The giveaway was worked by brothers who were newly initiated all the way to 50 year members. The Chapter was proud to host the widow of Brother Reed, a 1956 Delta Zeta initiate, and keep up the spirit of providing joy for the children of Sunbeam Elementary School,
which provides services for students with special education needs. The event was adjusted to fit COVID-19 safety protocols, placing toys and food in family members’ back seats or trunks without having direct contact. On Saturday August 1 st , the Cleveland (OH) Alumni Chap- ter partnered with the Greater Cleveland Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. to produce The 2020 Community Check-Up. This check-up brought together several partners, includ- ing the three municipalities, their school district and their state representative, a local healthcare provider, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, U.S. Census Bureau, and Board of Elections. Together the Chapter provided free fresh produce, COVID-19 testing, voter registration, and census participa- tion. Brothers donated their time during rain and shine to provide assistance facilitating the testing, registering voters, and placing produce in cars. The Chapter also sponsored two local disk jockeys for the event. All in all over 300 people were served and a good (and safe) time was had by all. Undaunted by the effects of the pandemic, the Chapter main- tained its pace of service through the 85 th Grand Chapter Meeting.
112 | SUMMER 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL
VIRTUAL 85 TH GRAND CHAPTER MEETING
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