The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Jewels join forces and shine
Diamonds and Pearls 5K Run & 1-Mile Walk and Wellness Fair comes to Norristown Farm Park
EAST NORRITON >> Diamonds are a runner’s best friend, and so are pearls.
The two gems come together for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 19, when the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Norristown chapter, host the Diamonds and Pearls 5K Run & 1-Mile Walk and Wellness Fair at Norristown Farm Park.
Diamonds represent the men of the fraternity and peals stand for the sorority women, noted Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Shannon Camps.
“The two organizations have come together for this event as we continue to serve both the Greater
Philadelphia and Norristown communities,” Camps explained. “The Wellness Fair will be going on parallel to the event and will have a lot of different components to it — screenings, vendors, a breast cancer speaker for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.”
Online registration for the race can be completed by going to: https:// runsignup.com/Race/PA/Norristown/DiamondandPearls5K The race will kick off at 8:35. Sponsors include Michael Pennyman of Allstate Agency.
“Everyone will receive a T-shirt and there will be awards for the top male and female finishers,” Camps noted.
“The proceeds raised will help fund various health-related programs for both organizations, specifically health programs to meet our initiatives.”
The Wellness Fair is free and open to all ages, and will feature dental screenings, blood pressure checks, flue shots, nutritional eating demos, games and door prizes.
Vendors include Moss Rehab at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, Paris Fit (Philadelphia Certified Fitness Trainer) and Viva Natural, manufacturers of natural products, inlcuding all-natural, aluminum-free deodorant, and founded by Lynn Callaway, who started the company three years ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 5K Run will proceed simultaneously In Person and in Virtual format. Fee is $30 pre-registered and $35 on race day.
Fees for the 1 Mile Walk In Person and Virtual are $15 pre-registered and $20 on race day.
According to sorority background, Alpha Kappa Alpha will continue to raise community awareness of critical health issues impacting AfricanAmerican women. The primary focuses will be breast cancer awareness and prevention, heart health, nutrition and wellness, and care for the caregivers. Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention will focus specifically on early detection through mammograms to improve the survival rate of women diagnosed with breast cancer. Alpha Kappa Alpha will own a digital AKA Mobile Breast Cancer Screening Unit that will travel to various locations and provide mammogram screening. Chapters will partner with local clinics, rural health centers, and hospitals to emphasize the need for African-American women to receive regular mammograms.
Heart Health remains a focus as the sorority enhances its commitment to healthy hearts through fitness activities and walking. Chapters will be encouraged to form walking clubs and to invite the community to join the walking initiatives.
Nutrition and Wellness will emphasize healthy lifestyles including prenatal, childhood, adult, and senior nutrition programs. The focus will be on structured nutrition initiatives, and chapters will partner with local nutritionists and dietitians to design healthy eating plans and safe diets for longer, healthier living.
Care for the Caregivers emphasizes taking care of those who take care of others. Chapters will emphasize the need for caregivers to practice preventive healthcare as well as self-care behavior to eliminate the vulnerabilities and risks associated with the stress of caregiving.
The history of Kappa Alpha Psi, a college Fraternity, comprised of functioning Undergraduate and Alumni Chapters on major campuses and in cities throughout the country, noted that it “is the crystallization of a dream. It is the beautiful realization of a vision shared commonly by the late Revered Founders Elder Watson Diggs, “The Dreamer”; John Milton Lee; Byron K. Armstrong; Guy Levis Grant; Ezra D. Alexander; Henry T. Asher; Marcus P. Blakemore; Paul W. Caine; Edward G. Irvin and George W. Edmonds.
It was the vision of these astute men that enabled them in the school year 1910 - 11, more specifically the night of January 5, 1911, on the campus of Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, to sow the seed of a fraternal tree whose fruit is available to, and now enjoyed by, college men everywhere, regardless of their color, religion or national origin. It is a fact of which Kappa Apha Psi is justly proud that the Constitution has never contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin. The Constitution of Kappa Alpha Psi is predicated upon, and dedicated to, the principles of achievement through a truly democratic Fraternity.”
Norristown Farm Park is located at 2500 Upper Farm Road, East Norriton.
For more information, e-mail AKARTO5KRace@gmail.com
— Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Shannon Camps