The Tribune

THE Pi Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, has celebrated 35 years of sisterhood, scholarship, and service on Grand Bahama.

The local organisation - founded by 18 college women and was chartered on May 23, 1987 – has grown to 68 financial members and continues to impact the lives of people, particularly women and young girls, in the community.

For its 35th anniversary, the chapter recently held a community service initiative in which members donated and packaged healthy snacks, water, and drinks and distributed them to young athletes here on the island.

Yvonne Pearson, president of Pi Upsilon Omega Chapter, said the chapter accomplished alot in the past three decades.

“We are always reaching out and serving the community, and our focus is on women and young girls,” she said.

The chapter has reached all of its five targets, she said. “We have worked with the Arts, supported HBCUs (historically black colleges and giving scholarships); Women’s Healthcare and Wellness with Pink Goes Red Day in observance of Women’s Heart Health, and Global Impact Day where we reach the wider community and internationally being of service,” she said.

Eraise Thompson said the community service initiative benefitted the Girls Soccer League and the Boys Little League Baseball.

“Healthy snacks, drinks, and water were packaged and delivered to the girls at the YMCA soccer field and the little leaguers at the Emera Baseball Field to push our healthy agenda to the kids, she said.

“The partnership (with the two youth organisations) aligns with the target of AKA, and with the goals of our organisation, teaching our kids not only about physical fitness but also about a healthy lifestyle that includes eating healthy fruits, granola bars and drinking water, said Ashleigh Lockhart. We are very grateful to our members for this donation.”

In celebration of PUO’s anniversary, AKA international regional director Joy Elaine Daley traveled to Freeport on May 20. She also made a significant monetary donation of $1,000 to a local feeding program, the Lord’s Kitchen at the Christ the King Anglican Church.

Chapter historian Julie Glover said the 18 founding members of PUO had joined AKA in college and decided to establish a local chapter in Freeport. “We wanted to continue not only the fun, but the work of AKA which goes on beyond college, and there were enough of us to begin a chapter and the work of AKA on the island,” she explained. But, there is a chapter in Nassau, Eta Psi Omega, and those of us on GB wanted to make our mark as well, to bring the AKA to other parts of The Bahamas.”