Delta Sigma Theta’s Heart & Soul
Scholarship Fundraiser:
Lots of Heart & Soul
Scholarship Fundraiser:
Lots of Heart & Soul
By Jonathan Gramling
Where does time fly? It was already 35 years ago back in 1977 when 22
professional African American women came together to found the Madison
Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. And during the intervening years,
the Deltas have made an impact on Madison’s African American community and
beyond, especially in the areas of health and education.
Already in 2012 under the leadership of their new president Carola Gaines, the
Deltas were very visible during the King Holiday events, helping out at the state
and city-county celebrations
“As our president said, ‘The Delta Train is coming,’” said Ronnicia Johnson-Walker,
co-chair of the Delta’s Heart & Soul Scholarship Fundraiser. “Our president is
really big on having us be seen out in the community and doing all that we can to
lend a helping hand. For the King Weekend, we had our social action committee
working. We’re definitely open to helping out with whatever is happening in the
Madison area.”
| Ronnicia Johnson-Walker is co-chairing the Delta Sigma Theta’s Heart & Soul Scholarship Fundraiser for the second year. |
This is the second year that Johnson-Walker has co-chaired Heart & Soul, this year with Tracy Henriques. Last year’s event was so
successful that the Deltas decided that one good turn deserves another.
“It will be at the Edgewater Hotel again this year,” Johnson-Walker said. “We have DJ David Muhammad again. We’ll have Kin Folk
again. We just figured that things went so well last year and people really seemed to enjoy themselves that we would do a similar event
to what we did last year.”
This year’s theme is 17th Annual Heart & Soul: Celebrating 35 Years of Serving in Love, reflecting Gaines’ tagline of Committing to
Serving in Love.
And one of the biggest signs of love that the Deltas have had for the community is their involvement in education. During Heart & Soul,
they will be running a slide show that exhibits the Deltas’ contributions for the past 35 years. And their key contribution are the annual
scholarships that they award, over $30,000 worth over the past 17 years.
“Last year was interesting because we gave away our first male scholarship because usually it is a scholarship for young women,”
Johnson-Walker said. “We hope a lot of people do turn out so that we can give more scholarships. We gave three to female recipients
and one to a male recipient last year.”
Heart & Soul is an elegant, yet relaxed affair that the Deltas give their special touch to such as the CD every attendee receives that has
many of the songs played during the evening on it.
“Heart & Soul isn’t too formal where people feel uncomfortable,” Johnson-Walker said. “We just want everyone to have a fun and natural
environment. The music is always good, but it was really good last year. We hope to have a repeat of the dance floor being as full as it
was last year. We had a lot of pictures from last year. This year, we’ll be doing the same thing to make sure we get coverage of all angles
and everything that is going on throughout the night. It will be good to see people enjoy themselves. Often as chair, you tend to not notice
because you are busy trying to introduce yourself and making sure everyone is okay. I’m hoping that since it is my second year, I can
actually enjoy myself a lot more. I had a lot of fun last year, but I hope to be on the dance floor a lot more. I often found myself in the middle
of conversation and I would say, ‘Can you hold that thought? This is my song,’ and I would run and try to dance and come back.”
Last year, people were certainly enjoying themselves, hanging out long after the event was officially over.
“Seven o’clock to midnight went really fast and then from 12:00 a.m. to 1 a.m., we still had guests there until 1 a.m. and DJ David
Muhammad still did a little bit of spinning in the background,” Johnson-Walker recalled. “That was really nice just to have the event have
a slow wind down instead of kicking the lights on and telling everyone to leave.”
While Heart & Soul is about scholarships and having a good time, it is also about celebrating the Deltas’ commitment to community
service.
“For years, we have done Delta Days at the nation’s capitol and at the state capitol,” Johnson-Walker said. “With the voting law changing,
we’ve had all of the executive board members in the chapter certified to register voters. We did that one night at one of our meetings. We’
re trying to get the word out about the laws that are changing around voting. We do anything that can have a social action impact around
the Madison area. We’re going to be very busy this summer and fall with this being an election year. In January 2013, it will be our 100th
year. 2012-2013 will be very busy for Deltas nationwide and globally as well as for our chapter locally.”
On February 11th, come feel the Heart and Soul with the Deltas at the Edgewater.
successful that the Deltas decided that one good turn deserves another.
“It will be at the Edgewater Hotel again this year,” Johnson-Walker said. “We have DJ David Muhammad again. We’ll have Kin Folk
again. We just figured that things went so well last year and people really seemed to enjoy themselves that we would do a similar event
to what we did last year.”
This year’s theme is 17th Annual Heart & Soul: Celebrating 35 Years of Serving in Love, reflecting Gaines’ tagline of Committing to
Serving in Love.
And one of the biggest signs of love that the Deltas have had for the community is their involvement in education. During Heart & Soul,
they will be running a slide show that exhibits the Deltas’ contributions for the past 35 years. And their key contribution are the annual
scholarships that they award, over $30,000 worth over the past 17 years.
“Last year was interesting because we gave away our first male scholarship because usually it is a scholarship for young women,”
Johnson-Walker said. “We hope a lot of people do turn out so that we can give more scholarships. We gave three to female recipients
and one to a male recipient last year.”
Heart & Soul is an elegant, yet relaxed affair that the Deltas give their special touch to such as the CD every attendee receives that has
many of the songs played during the evening on it.
“Heart & Soul isn’t too formal where people feel uncomfortable,” Johnson-Walker said. “We just want everyone to have a fun and natural
environment. The music is always good, but it was really good last year. We hope to have a repeat of the dance floor being as full as it
was last year. We had a lot of pictures from last year. This year, we’ll be doing the same thing to make sure we get coverage of all angles
and everything that is going on throughout the night. It will be good to see people enjoy themselves. Often as chair, you tend to not notice
because you are busy trying to introduce yourself and making sure everyone is okay. I’m hoping that since it is my second year, I can
actually enjoy myself a lot more. I had a lot of fun last year, but I hope to be on the dance floor a lot more. I often found myself in the middle
of conversation and I would say, ‘Can you hold that thought? This is my song,’ and I would run and try to dance and come back.”
Last year, people were certainly enjoying themselves, hanging out long after the event was officially over.
“Seven o’clock to midnight went really fast and then from 12:00 a.m. to 1 a.m., we still had guests there until 1 a.m. and DJ David
Muhammad still did a little bit of spinning in the background,” Johnson-Walker recalled. “That was really nice just to have the event have
a slow wind down instead of kicking the lights on and telling everyone to leave.”
While Heart & Soul is about scholarships and having a good time, it is also about celebrating the Deltas’ commitment to community
service.
“For years, we have done Delta Days at the nation’s capitol and at the state capitol,” Johnson-Walker said. “With the voting law changing,
we’ve had all of the executive board members in the chapter certified to register voters. We did that one night at one of our meetings. We’
re trying to get the word out about the laws that are changing around voting. We do anything that can have a social action impact around
the Madison area. We’re going to be very busy this summer and fall with this being an election year. In January 2013, it will be our 100th
year. 2012-2013 will be very busy for Deltas nationwide and globally as well as for our chapter locally.”
On February 11th, come feel the Heart and Soul with the Deltas at the Edgewater.
