Members of a Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority local chapter took on an environmental service project at Laurel Hill Park again this year. The AKA letters, and pink and green colors, were on display as the members arrived equipped with gloves and garden shears to work in managing invasive plants in the park. Specifically, they restored a historic rail car once used by the Occoquan Prison to move materials through the grounds. The rail car rests along the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail where the rail line once ran. Thanks to the work of the sorority ladies, the car, which had been barely visible behind extensive invasive plant growth on its protective fencing, was made visible again. 

Phyllis Thibodeaux declares the work good exercise as she stretches to remove vines from the fencing 

 

The group’s organizer for the service session, Lynbea Toombs of Alexandria, says the group undertakes multiple environmental projects. In May 2023, the group assisted in preparing the park’s Central Green Pollinators’ Garden for Spring growth by removing spent plants and dried stalks. (The Connection, May 3, 2023) Local site leaders have welcomed the group and their enthusiastic spirit of volunteerism in other tasks, such as tree planting.

AKA is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The group was founded on Jan. 15, 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C, “to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women.” The Alpha Beta Alpha Omega Chapter of AKA serves the communities of Springfield and Lorton. Many are graduates of Howard or Hampton Universities. The national sorority’s membership includes successful women in many fields, including Kamala Harris, the first female Vice President of the United States and current nominee for President.