Empowering Our Sisters : Our Journey to Wellness
Saturday I attended the 3rd Annual Health, Wellness and Empowerment Summit presented by the Wilmington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
The Empowering Our Sisters: Our Journey to Wellness event was held at the John H. Ammon Medical Education Center at the Christiana Hospital.
I was invited to attend and to provide social media coverage by my “Sistah in Greekdom” Porsha Hargrove of Porsha Hargrove Consulting.
Delta Sigma Theta and Sigma Gamma Rho
Arriving early Saturday morning, I followed the directional signs to the designated parking area, which was quite far from the actual venue. However, there was a shuttle bus waiting to transport us to the front door of the Education Center.
The lobby quickly began filling up with over 100 women of all ages and races. The registration tables were set up front and each attendee was greeted graciously and presented with a name badge and a reusable bag.
Inside the bag there were a few chatskis as well as a program folder which contained the full Summit Schedule, a Health Guide, Health Score Card, and Emergency Prepare a Kit, lined paper for notes and an Evaluation Form.
Also in the lobby were Exhibitor tables with health and wellness information including FREE Health Screenings and an opportunity to get additional raffle tickets for the various prize drawings throughout the day.
Long tables held Continental Breakfast goodies such as bagels, Belvita Biscuits and fruit, as well as WaWa Coffee which I made my way over to because you know me, my favorite flavor of WaWa coffee is Hazelnut.
The program began with a Welcome and Acknowledgements from Karen Bostick, Chapter President and Linda Thomas, President, followed by an Invocation by the Reverend Natalie Alford from Trinity AME Church in Middletown, DE.
Sarah Harrison, Health Summit Chair presented the purpose, objectives and an introduction of the moderator then the young ladies ages 11-17 relocated to another room outside of the auditorium.
Their Empowerment Workshop Sessions was being presented by One Village Alliance, “Girls Can Do Anything”, and for those of us older than 18, we stayed in the main auditorium.
There were many wonderful speakers who spoke on various important health issues including the Top Cancers in Delaware and the Interconnectivity of Spiritual, Emotional/Mental and Physical Health and Wellness.
Microphones were set up on the floor giving attendees an opportunity to ask questions or respond to questions posed by the moderators.
Love Congo, a Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivor spoke of her journey and her inspirational message touched us all.
A mini break gave us an opportunity to visit the exhibitors, network, participate in the FREE health screenings or just grab another cup of coffee, water, juice or run to the restroom.
The “Prize Patrol” was on duty during the breaks and there were some really wonderful giveaways – unfortunately, I didn’t win any of them!
Lunch was provided by Zoup.com and it was a well prepared and delicious box lunch containing a variety of soups, sandwiches and salads.
The Keynote Speaker, Rita Choula, Senior Advisor, AARP spoke on “Empowering the Caregiver” which is a hot button topic in today’s society and Delaware is leading the charge on working with caregivers of cancer patients.
The highlight of the day was the Fashion Show, which was moderated by Cheris Lockett and Donametria Stallings, Miss DSU.
The fashion show models were physicians, health care providers, survivors and young sisters all of which did their thing on the Runway, it was beautiful!
I would like to thank the lovely ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Wilmington Chapter for hosting this Health, Wellness and Empowerment Summit and look forward to next year’s event.
Please use the hashtag #DeltaWellness2016 to see even more pictures posted to my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
A special thank you to my fellow Social Media Diva, Lorena and of course my “Sistah in Greekdom”, Porsha Hargrove for inviting me!
