The AKA Foundation
of Central Pennsylvania, Inc
2014 Annual Report
Non-profit public charity under IRS Code 501 (c) (3)
THE AKA Foundation
of Central Pennsylvania, Incorporated
Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Gail M. Davis
Audrey Ross Utley
LaToya Winfield Bellamy
Kathy Charles
Linda Davis
Susan Simms Marsh
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Financial Secretary
Parliamentarian
Members At Large
Anize M. Appel
Yasmin Coleman
Patricia Hamilton
Karen Love
Aundre Pearce
Jeannine Peterson
Cordelia “Pam” Pettis
Nichole Purcell
Barbara A. Thompson
Our Mission
The AKA Foundation of Central Pennsylvania, Inc., is the
philanthropic arm of the Epsilon Sigma Omega Chapter of
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Our purpose is to provide opportunities for contributors to
support Epsilon Sigma Omega chapter programs which
target education, economics, health, the sciences and the
arts within the Greater Harrisburg community based on
Epsilon Sigma Omega’s annually approved community
service program plan.
THE AKA Foundation
of Central Pennsylvania, Incorporated
January 3, 2015
Dear Foundation Members, Community Partners and Financial Supporters:
The AKA Foundation of Central Pennsylvania, Inc., is a Pennsylvania corporation and
is designated as a public charity under the IRS Code 501 (c) (3). We serve as the
philanthropic arm of the Epsilon Sigma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,
Inc. Incorporated in 2011, our purpose is to provide opportunities for contributors to
support Epsilon Sigma Omega chapter programs that target education, economics,
health, the arts and sciences within the Greater Harrisburg community.
2014 provided many opportunities for the Foundation to provide funding for several
community service programs focusing on educational enrichment for our youth, STEM
career opportunities; health programs focusing on heart disease and diabetes
awareness and education; a professional women’s conference that promoted work life
balance and an energy education and conservation forum.
Epsilon Sigma Omega Chapter has been providing community service programs and
academic scholarships to the Greater Harrisburg community since 1952. We are proud
to have provided financial support of over $26,000 in 2014 from our supporters,
membership, grants and corporate sponsorships to the following 2014 programs:
“African American Read-In”
“Pink Goes Red for Heart Health”
Diabetes Awareness and Educational, Workshops and Fairs
Emerging Young Leaders Afterschool Program for 6th -8th grade girls
EYL Youth STEM Summit for 6th -8th grade boys and girls
“It’s About You Women’s Conference”
“Energy Education and Conservation Forum”
We are grateful to all our individual, community, organizational and corporate partners
who made an investment of time, talent and money to make a positive difference
through strategically focused programs that address varied needs within our area.
Thank you. We look forward to your continued support and in developing new
relationships in 2015.
Sincerely,
Gail M. Davis, President
2014 Funded Programs
“Emerging Young Leaders”
The 2014 Emerging Young Leaders program
was held twice a month after school at the
Susquehanna Township Middle School with 6th,
7th and 8th grade girls. The girls engaged in
planning and implementing activities and
participating in workshops that focused on the
four AKAdemies - Character Building,
Leadership Development, Educational
Enrichment and Civic Engagement.
2014 Funded Programs
“Emerging Young Leaders”
The 2014 program included:

Sessions on leadership development, including public speaking;
character building; educational enrichment activities and civic
engagement.

EYL girls were invited to share African American History information
throughout February on the school’s morning televised
announcements, The WAVE.

Special EYL session and lunch with visiting author Charles R. Smith ,
Jr. as part of Epsilon Sigma Omega’s African American Read-In.

Performance of “The Best Books Ever” skit at the State Museum of
PA and at Holtzman Elementary School’s African American Read-In.

Participation in the first Emerging Young Leaders STEM Youth
Summit held at Penn State Harrisburg .

Attendance at Harrisburg Symphony’s “Mardi Gras”, featuring Byron
Stripling, jazz trumpet virtuoso at The Forum.

Invitation by The Harrisburg Chapter of The Links to treat EYL girls
and parents to Harrisburg Symphony’s “Elijah” by Mendelssohn.

Civic engagement activity to raise money for a charity of their choice.
Coin-counting banks were used at monthly meetings during 2014 to
collect dues and workshop time was devoted to learning about money
management and the importance of sharing your blessing with others
who might not be as fortunate. The Keep a Child Alive charity, which
helps children with AIDs in four African countries and India, was
selected by the girls to receive their $60.

Culminating field trip included the EYL girls touring Harrisburg
University and the PA Capitol. They viewed the IMAX Theater’s Ice
Age show and explored the Whitaker Science Center.

Closing EYL Celebration Tea at the Manna Café with parents in
attendance. The girls took on leadership roles in the planning and
execution of the program. The talent showcase featured singers,
poets, writers and musicians while others took on the speaking parts acknowledging guests, announcing the talent, introducing the guest
speaker and presenting gifts. EYL certificates of participation were
given to all EYL girls.

Graduation Ceremony for EYL girls moving to 9th grade. Pink or
green caps and gowns were worn by our first graduating class of 2014
as they paraded into the room. A graduation charge was given to the
girls by Kristen Shipley, a 2014 honor student graduate of Central
York High School and recipient of a $2000 Epsilon Sigma Omega
Heritage Memorial Scholarship. EYL girls were each presented with a
graduation certificate and a 2014 picture frame to remember their time
as an Emerging Young Leader.
2014 Funded Programs
Emerging Young Leaders STEM Youth Summit
The Emerging Young Leaders (EYL) STEM
Youth Summit highlighting Career
Exploration and Leadership Development
was held on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at
Penn State Harrisburg in Middletown, PA.
The full day program targeted a diverse
group of one hundred fifty students, 6th
through 8th grade girls and boys, from public
and non-public Harrisburg area schools
including Harrisburg, Steelton- Highspire,
Susquehanna Township, Central Dauphin,
St. Stephens Episcopal and Nativity. Ten
school chaperones, fifteen presenters and
twenty-six AKA Foundation of Central PA
and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
volunteers were on hand to implement the
day’s activities and maximize the learning
opportunities for the one hundred five
student participants, making a total of one
hundred fifty-six in attendance.
The day began with registration and a
continental breakfast from 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Each student received a backpack with a
folder containing information on STEM
careers, a pen, note paper, a booklet on
preparing for college, a STEM lanyard and
name tag, a TE Connectivity flashlight key
chain, and other assorted items related to
science exploration. Also included in the
backpack was a green t-shirt with the EYL
Youth Summit logo on the front and our
contributors names displayed on the back.
2014 Funded Programs
Emerging Young Leaders STEM Youth Summit
The opening session from 9:00 -10:00 a.m. began with a
welcome, the EYL Pledge recited by the Susquehanna
Township EYL girls and a short video to inspire the
students to not let perceived obstacles prevent them from
trying something new. Their ice breaker allowed table
mates to share their ideas about STEM subjects and how
they apply science and technology in their daily lives as
they worked together to create and share orally their STEM
flower posters.
From10:00 to 11:00 a.m., and repeated from 11:00 - 12:00
p.m., groups were either in the STEM Café exploration
area or participating in two of the three workshops on
Choice, Money Basics, and Bullying Prevention. The
STEM Café afforded opportunities for students to circulate
through a minimum of five stations where experts from their
respective fields spent ten minutes per station engaging the
students in an interactive activity related to various STEM
topics from Hands Only CPR to Product Development
(candy-making) to building bridges to Hands-On
Engineering to name a few. Additionally, there were three
display tables – TE Connectivity, Penn State Athletics and
the Penn State Office of Multicultural Recruitment’s college
and careers table for students to visit.
Following lunch (a boxed lunch was provided by Penn
State Harrisburg’s Office of Multicultural Recruitment for all
participants) the group divided in half and the students
engaged in small group hands-on activities with either the
“Keep it Moving!” session or the “Let’s Build It!” session. In
the gym “Keep it Moving!” students circulated through three
stations where they threw balls , high jumped and long
jumped before calculating the average of their three tries.
“Let’s Build It!” consisted of a series of different kits (Legos,
K’nex, etc.) which the students had to assemble after
agreeing on what to build and how to make it stable and
functional from an engineering perspective. A
representative from each student group shared the results
of their efforts with the full group.
Our closing session consisted of recognizing all of our
sponsors and partners, thanking the schools for their
participation and having the students and chaperones
complete an evaluation of the day’s events. All 105
students completed their evaluation forms which revealed a
positive result.
2014 Funded Programs
“African American Read-In”
The 2014 African American Read-In program
was held at the Pennsylvania State Museum
in February. Epsilon Sigma Omega begin
sponsoring this annual literacy program in
1998 during Black History Month. The purpose
is to provide a love for reading for 3 to 12 year
old children while introducing them to age
appropriate books authored and or illustrated
by African Americans.
After a general program of fun and interactive
activities, the children are divided into age
appropriate groups and volunteer male and
female readers read stories to them. Each
child receives their choice of two free books to
take home with them. Over 75 children and
their parents participated in this years event.
The chapter’s Emerging Young Leaders
prepared individual reports on African American
authors and presented to the children during
the program.
2014 Funded Programs
Diabetes Awareness and Education
As a part of a collaborative of ten organizations in
the Central Pennsylvania area, the Foundation
received funds from Capital Blue Cross to address
adult diabetes awareness and education within our
communities and among our constituencies. We
extended the opportunity to the Greek lettered
organizations in the Greater Harrisburg Community
to provide educational opportunities to their
constituencies. We estimate that nearly 700
persons were touched either through the distribution
of information, displays, health educational sessions,
and health screenings. This year the men of Alpha
Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. partnered with us and
conducted an education session for men over 21.
Events included:
Distribution of Diabetes informational packets at
the Alpha Kappa Alpha, Epsilon Sigma Omega
Chapter (AKAESO) Garden Tea at the Hershey
Hotel in July.
Table Display and informational handouts at
AKAESO’s Pink Goes Red for Heart Health
The AKA Health Village at the AKAESO “It’s About
You” Women’s Leadership Conference included
health screenings provided by Hamilton Health
Center; stress display and counseling by Capital
Blue Cross; Diabetes display, literature, and
giveaways by the Foundation and chair massages
by Inertia Massage.
Distribution of diabetes materials at the Mt. Zion
Church’s Steelton “Backpack Block Party and
Distribution of materials at the PA Interagency
Hispanic Heritage Festival.
Diabetes Awareness and Educational session for
members of AKAESO at the Giant Food Store
Community Center.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Zeta Theta
Lambda Chapter, held an informational seminar on
Diabetes for men over 21, which was presented by
Dr. Donald Spigner at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church
in keeping with their national program and Men’s
Health/50 Million Pound Health Initiative
2014 Funded Programs
“Pink Goes Red”
As a part of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s international health
initiative chapters conduct a program to make the
community aware of heart disease and related
illnesses. This year’s Pink Goes Red initiative also
included information on diabetes, free health
screenings, CPR training, dance exercise, chair
massages and healthy nutritional choices.
Environmental Sustainability
“Energy Education & Conservation Forum”
Environmental sustainability and energy conservation are key components.
Understanding your utility bill charges, how to conserve energy usage,
home repair tips and how to save money by wisely choosing your generation
supplier were the order of the day. This informational session included
representatives from the Public Utility Commission, Generation suppliers
and Home Depot. The forum was held at a local church.
2014 Funded Programs
“It’s About You! Women’s Leadership Conference”
The fourth annual "It's About You!"
conference celebrating women by
encouraging those who encourage others
was a vision shared over five years ago and
has become a successful annual event.
This personal and professional development
opportunity provides a venue for women
from the corporate executive, business
owner, working woman and those aspiring
to hone their leadership skills, to share
strategies to achieve a healthy work life
balance. Yes we wear many titles and
often several at the same time, CEO,
employer, employee, unemployed, wife,
mom, patient, caregiver, widow, divorcee,
student, friend, and the list goes on.
Yes, there are many circumstances that we
face in our various roles that can put our life
out of balance. And, too often in all of the
multi-tasking, our needs move to the
bottom of the list. The conference provided
an opportunity for sharing and tools to
enhance the participants personal and
professional life.
FY 2014 Cash Inflows Breakdown –
Total $27,575
Gift Card Sales
$450 $432
$225
$2,050 $900
$1,818
Women's Conference
Diabetes Grant
$7,300
EYL Summit
Membership
$3,600
$6,300
$4,500
Administrative Fees to
Foundation
United Way Contribution
Energy Forum
Garden Tea Sponsorships
Global Impact Initiative
FY 2014 Cash Outflows Breakdown –
Total $23,922
Epsilon Sigma Omega
Programs
$120
$208
$1,525
$62
$15
Gift Card Sales
Diabetes Initiative
$3,257
Insurance
$11,800
Supplies
$7,220
Website Development
Postage
Charitable Registration
Filing
2014 Program Contributors
EYL Youth STEM Summit
TE Connectivity
$ 3,000
Ahold
1,000
Martin Sacks Foundation (received in 2013)
1,000
Penn State Harrisburg Office of
In-Kind
Recruitment & Multicultural Affairs
Diabetes Awareness and Education
Capital Blue Cross
$ 5,000
It’s About You Women’s Leadership Conference
Stevens & Lee
$ 6,000
American Water
1,000
Garden Tea Sponsorships
Yasmin Coleman
$
130
Gail M. Davis
125
Susan Simms Marsh
125
Barbara Thompson
125
Verdina Showell Energy Conservation Award
Gladys M .Brown
$
500
United Way
Jeannine and William Peterson
$ 1,000
Global Impact/United Nations
Susan Simms Marsh
$
250
THE AKA Foundation
of Central Pennsylvania, Incorporated
The philanthropic arm of the Epsilon Sigma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® (AKA) is an international
service organization that was founded on the campus of Howard
University in Washington, DC in 1908. It is the oldest Greek lettered
organization established by African-American, college educated
women. Alpha Kappa Alpha is comprised of 265,000
members in 983 graduate and undergraduate chapters in the
United States, Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Germany, South
Korea, Bermuda, Japan, Canada and on the continent of
Africa. Its membership includes distinguished women who boast
excellent academic records, proven leadership skills and a
commitment to the global community through advocacy and
service. Alpha Kappa Alpha has dedicated itself to improving the
quality of life for citizens worldwide and promoting peace.
Since 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has improved the lives
of people worldwide by attracting and retaining capable and
motivated members who genuinely care about each other and
the people they serve. Our members develop innovative
service programs that address significant issues in the areas of
education, health, family, the arts, technology and economics.
These programs are outcome-driven and executed with
excellence. As the oldest African-American community service
sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority attributes its longevity to
accountable leadership and organizational efficiency.
Epsilon Sigma Omega Chapter
Epsilon Sigma Omega has been providing service to the Greater Harrisburg
community since 1952. One of 953 graduate chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Inc we have a rich history in the Harris burg community and a steadfast
commitment to service.
THE AKA Foundation
of Central Pennsylvania, Incorporated
P.O. BOX 61244
Harrisburg, PA 17107
akafoundationofcentralpa@gmail.com
www.akafoundationofcentralpa.com