By: China Boynton
The North Broward County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority distributed scholarships and laptops to local high school seniors at Apollo Park, 1580 NW 3rd Ave. This event was part of the Deltas’ 28th annual May week academic excellence ceremony that took place from May 1 through May 7.
A total of 20 students received scholarships and laptops. Falicia Prevals’ daughter Amaria Preval was one of the recipients.
“My daughter is very independent and she took part in the Delta Sorority’s cotillion process which made such an impact on her life,” Falicia said. “This is something that she wanted to be a part of that will give her an opportunity to see black women doing things in the community that she aspires to do.”
Krystal Shivers, President of the Delta Sigma Theta Alumnae Chapter of North Broward, said since their inception in 1913 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority has been celebrating the academic excellence of students in the community.
“In the month of May, you will find Delta chapters all over the world celebrating academic excellence,” Shivers said. “We do activities and fundraising all year and then we give that back to the students.”
Shivers says one of the criteria for the applicants was that the students had to have a financial need in order to be considered for the scholarship program.
“We are really trying to give back to our community by paying it forward so hopefully our kids will come back to the community and do the same thing,” Shivers said.
Former vice president of the North Broward chapter of the Deltas and CEO of Stephens Consulting Group located in Tamarac, Dr. Nethel Stephens, said her company partnered with the Delta chapter to buy computers for the students.
“Generally all of the funds we raise at Stephens Consulting Group goes straight to the public, however this year we decided to donate to this effort in order to help purchase the laptop computers,” Stephens said. “We are really excited about the outcome.”
Due to Covid-19 the North Broward Chapter of Delta is not allowed to congregate. So instead of a formal ceremony the group decided to hand out the scholarships over Zoom on May 1 and host a drive-up laptop giveaway on May 7. The laptops cost and scholarship awards totaled over $30,000.
