First Person: 17th Annual Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance 5K Run/Walk raises $11K and growing

UPDATE: The Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance would like to thank every volunteer, sponsor, supporter, vendor, director, and Alliance members who made a huge impact with assisting raising over $111k scholarship funds for students to attend an HBCU. Race day participants 3300 and still going for virtual participants until July 6th. The 17th Annual HBCU Alumni Alliance Run/Walk was amazing

By Taylor Duncan

ATLANTA—I participated in the 17th Annual Atlanta Historically Black Colleges and Universities Alumni Alliance 5K RunWalk on June 29.

It was amazing to witness over 1,000 alumni united for two important causes: fundraising to assist students currently attending an HBCU and to promote wellness and healthy living.

The walk/run started and ended with fellowship at Piedmont Park with over 15 schools represented.

You could feel the sense of pride and community amongst us all. FAMU had the largest support and came in 1st place for most donations toward scholarships for students.  Each school’s tent was filled with alumni sharing stories, taking photos, and making connections for future business.

It was awesome to see representatives from the Divine 9 in attendance.  The Divine 9 is the nickname of a group of HBCU Greek sororities and fraternities that have been around since the early 1900s and have contributed greatly to Black American culture, public service and scholarships: Alpha Phi AlphaFraternity Inc. ; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority;Inc.; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; Inc.; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.: Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

 There also were vendors such as Caresourseand several nonprofits providing information on wellness, as well as Black authors who were selling their books. Additionally, Home Depot and local entrepreneurs also were present.

Taylor Duncan is a resident of Rockdale County.