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Alpha Phi Alpha ‘s 26th Annual MLK Scholarship
Breakfast
By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor
This year’s various
celebrations of Founders’ Day for black fraternities and
sororities – the Divine Nine as they are known – are taken
on a different tone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual
Alpha Phi Alpha celebration, the 26th MLK
Scholarship Breakfast presented by the local Alpha Xi Lambda
chapter, did take place on Saturday January 16 but, as with
so many events over the last 10 months, it was a virtual
presentation.
The men of Alpha Xi Lambda
presented scholarships to five outstanding area students,
honored Wendi Huntley with the Drum Major for Justice Award
and introduced the audience to Candi Castleberry-Singleton
for the keynote address.
The fraternity, said Dr.
Michael Stubblefield, DDS, scholarship chairman, during his
introduction of the scholarship program, is “looking for
young men who follow the precepts of Alpha Phi Alpha” in
their lives and studies. This year’s awardees are Dominic
Barnes, a senior at Springfield High School; Mekhi
Henderson, St. John’s Jesuit; Kevin Foster, Start High
School; Kam’Ron Jones, St. John’s Jesuit and Thomas “TJ”
Winston, Jr, Anthony Wayne High School.
Dominic, the son of Mark
and Asha Barnes has been involved in music, gymnastics and
track and field. Because of his love of science and music,
he will be majoring in mechanical engineering when he starts
college, with a minor in music.
Mekhi, the son of Michael
and Stephanie Henderson, is a member of the Diversity
Committee and Culture Club, along with his involvement with
Upward Bound. He will have a major of psychology in college.
Kevin, the son Marvella
Foster and Elijah Jones, is a football and track star, a
participant in Upward Bound and a member of the National
Honors Society. He will attend Northern Ohio to major in
mechanical engineering and continue his football career.
Kam’Ron, the son of Tia
Wright and grandson of Greg Wright, has been a member of the
cross country and track teams and is an All-Academic in the
conference. He is part of Toledo Excel and an active
volunteer with a number of programs. He will major in civil
engineering.
Thomas, the son of Thomas
and Kelli Winston, plays football and basketball,
participates in Jack and Jill of America, Youth Leadership
Toledo and volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club. He will
attend Butler University, major in biology and play Division
I football.
In his introduction of
Huntley, this year’s Drum Major honoree, John C. Jones,
breakfast committee chairman and chapter vice president,
called the honor, “the highest award we give within the
community.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “spoke about the
qualities one needs to be connected to greatness,” said
Jones. He cited a King quote: “Everybody can be great
because everybody can serve.”
Huntley is the
CEO/executive director of Connecting Kids to Meals. A Notre
Dame Academy graduate, she earned an undergraduate degree
from Bowling Green State University and a law degree from
The Ohio State University.
“We serve the
underserved,” said Huntley of her agency, which provides
healthy nutritious meals for thousands of Toledo area
youngsters year round. “It’s a privilege to work with my
staff who are so committed and really care about the
children in our community.”
Huntley expressed her
evident pleasure at being honored and explained the reason
for her commitment to working to help those in the
community.
“I am humbled to receive
this award and humbled to be called a leader. I have a
service heart and that comes from my parents. They instilled
in me the care we have to have for one another. We are part
of the tapestry we call this community.”
This year’s mistress of
ceremonies, Kristian Brown of 13 abcTV, called Huntley, “the
epitome of a phenomenal woman.”
This year’s speaker,
Castleberry-Singleton, is
vice president of Diversity Partnership Strategy &
Engagement at Twitter and the founder of the Dignity
& Respect Campaign and
other innovative programs on diversity and inclusion,
employee and community engagement, and work-life
integration. She has developed successful strategies and
initiatives in technology, telecommunications and healthcare
with Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Motorola and UPMC. She is
well-known for her commitment to organizational behavior
change and inspiring people and communities to work better
together.
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