(The Dallas Examiner) – “I’ve never seen this many kids excited about reading,” exclaimed Edward Blackwell, director of Volunteer and Engagement at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas.
Over 200 children at the club’s 2024 Summer Camp filled the center June 30 with thrill and passion – all for reading!
The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., International Region brought more than 100 members from various countries to the Boys and Girls Club for their program, Uplifting the Community through Literacy and Arts. The women arrived from countries such as Liberia, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Germany, South Korea, Bermuda, Japan, Canada, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria to encourage literacy and stimulate creativity through arts.
The summer camp service project kicked off the AKA 33rd International Regional Conference, attended by 700 service members from around the world, July 1 and July 2.
The main purpose of the summer camp was to provide a safe environment and combat the summer learning loss for local children. A student can fall behind one year in reading skills just from summer reading loss over several summers, according to the Texas Children’s Hospital. In response, the sorority and the summer camp found a way to close the gap in a way that might be exciting to the children.
Toria Frederick, International Program Committee chairman for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., recognized a direct alignment to the summer camp’s mission with the AKA program’s initiatives. The Uplift our Local Community program allows members to visit communities, understand the needs of the community and actively support them.
“We noticed the need for literacy exposure in South Dallas, so of course [we] wanted to come in and help close that gap,” Frederick said.
The boys and girls were able to engage in enriching activities that built their literacy skills while out of school for the summer. Book distributions, spoken word, dramatic plays and a mural painting were on the itinerary for the summer event. Each child was allowed to take a few books home to read during their break due to a tremendous book donation response. The group was able to surpass its goal of having each child have two books, due to the surprising response from the community.
The mural project, which contributed to the event’s success – replaced a blank wall in the club. It was organized by artist, J.D. Moore. He has been painting since his childhood. The idea for the mural spoke to his vibrant, yet purposeful artistic style.
“I took my child-like passions of creating colorful art into my adulthood and I’ve never stopped painting,” he said.
Born and raised in Dallas, Moore took on the great responsibility in creating an everlasting reminder of the club’s mission for youth in the same city where his passions grew. The mural he created had a large hand in place of a bridge with children in their early stages of life on one side and then in their adulthood at the end of the bridge. The hand in place of a bridge represented the Boys and Girls Club. It illustrated the community’s commitment to aiding youth with tools to overcome any obstacle.
Collectively, Moore, the children and AKA sorority members worked on completing the mural. They brought it to life by adding touches of color and personality to the sketch outlined by Moore. The mural now catches the eyes of everyone who visited.
The event attendees described the program as an occasion that they hoped would inspire children to become productive and caring citizens. Hand in hand, the community will combine positive role models with proactive events to work towards this goal, leaving young people with the knowledge that they are cared for.
“It makes me feel really special that the AKA’s are such a big sorority, yet they showed up because they care about me,” Alise Jones, a 12-year-old camper reflected.