22 • December 2018
Alpha Epsilon’s altruistic projects for this year include Haiti New Mom and Baby Bags; canned food and stocking stuffers for ERCO (Ever Reaching Community Outreach) serving out of Pelahatchie; Why Not Now MS? (meals for the homeless); and Ronald McDonald House to include snacks, cleaning supplies, and donations for overnight stays for out-of-town families with children in local area hospitals. Over the years, Alpha Epsilon has participated in the following projects: Blankets and scarves for cancer patients, Toys for Tots, Rankin County Human Resources, Project 6.3.9. (female human trafficking), CARA Animal Shelter, Center for Pregnancy Choices, Expanding Borders Ministry in Honduras, Handbags for Hope (aid for women leaving the penal system), Mississippi Nursing Home Ministry, Animal Rescue Fund of Mississippi, Inc. (ARF), Blair Batson Hospital, Veterans Nursing Home, VA Hospital in Jackson, Gateway Rescue Mission, and Juvenile Detention Center of Rankin County. Also each year, the chapter rotates providing a meal to either the sheriff’s, police or fire departments. The Cut-n-Sew project is the chapter’s oldest project. The chapter has been sewing head scarves and cutting and trimming fleece into blankets for the Hederman Cancer Center and Jackson Oncology Associates for over 12 years, totaling 1,440. This project began from the heart. Marti’s grandson was diagnosed with leukemia when he was four. She learned, first-hand, some of the many needs of cancer patients—thus the Cut-n-Sew project was birthed. Each month, ten blankets and ten scarves are delivered to the cancer centers and given, free of charge, to patients coming in for treatments. Alpha Epsilon also participates at the international level of Alpha Delta Kappa Altruistic and World Understanding Projects. We send yearly monetary donations to St. Jude’s Hospital, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Ronald McDonald House. Funds have been donated to past projects to help build schools in rural Vietnam, Peru, and Haiti. Books and educational equipment was also purchased for LaKota/Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota. The International World Understanding Project for this biennium is TEACH TOO. Transitional housing will be built in Haiti for 48 older teens. Providing this housing will enable them to finish their education and learn an occupation. Haitian law does not allow children to live in licensed orphanages after the age of 18. The chapter raises funds for scholarships and altruistic projects through Ways and Means Projects. The chapter collects or makes items to sell or raffle at area, state, and regional conventions. This year’s Ways and Means project is bundles of Gulf-Region states note cards and handmade purse organizers. For many years the chapter invited the public to an auction every November. A great variety of donated items were auctioned off by noted citizens such as the mayor, bank presidents, extension agents, and artists, etc. Pearls of Achievement can be earned by each chapter for meeting the criteria of Alpha Delta Kappa. Some of the criteria include reports sent in on time, maintaining membership, attending conferences, participating in projects, setting and meeting goals, etc. Alpha Epsilon has earned at least four out of seven pearls each year since their beginning. Carol Ann Drane, our very own Alpha Epsilon member, was recently chosen for Mississippi’s Excellence in Education Award out of the 18 chapters located in Mississippi. She then became the Gulf Region winner. The Gulf Region includes the of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. She will compete at the International Alpha Delta Kappa Convention in Minneapolis against the other six regions in 2019. Alpha Epsilon not only participates in over a dozen altruistic projects each year, but also awards educational scholarships to female students majoring in education. Since the beginning of the chapter’s existence, it has awarded approximately $12,000 in scholarships to over fifty students. This amounts to $400 - $500 in scholarships a year. Margaret Mead, American Cultural Anthropologist, describes our chapter best, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” l Hometown Rankin • 23