“One of my passions and goals has always been to feed people,” said Reginald Summerrise during the third annual Divine Nine Repack Competition at the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“Helping the Divine Nine be part of this event and partnering with the Food Depository means so much to me and the National Pan-Hellenic Council Chicago.”
In honor of Black History Month, 91 members of the Divine Nine Greek organizations gathered at the Food Depository for this friendly contest to see which group could repack the most food for neighbors experiencing food insecurity across Chicago and Cook County.
Reginald Summerrise (third from left) pictured with fellow members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council Chicago (Photos by Joshua Joel for the Greater Chicago Food Depository).
Summerrise, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council Chicago and founder and CEO of Le Penseur Youth and Family Services on Chicago’s South Side, established a food pantry in partnership with the Food Depository in 2013. This was his first Divine Nine Repack Competition.
“We’re so excited to be a part of something like this,” Summerrise said. “This event is important to us because we were founded on the principles of giving back and serving others.”
The legacy of the Divine Nine
The National Pan-Hellenic Council, commonly known as the Divine Nine, comprises nine historically African American fraternities and sororities, also referred to as Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs). The first BGLO, Alpha Phi Alpha, was founded in 1906 at Cornell University among Black students experiencing discrimination.
Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. repack bags of apples that were delivered to pantries in the following days.
Over time, eight more organizations were established, eventually forming the Divine Nine. Today, these organizations individually and collectively support leadership, scholarship, service and social justice.
Three years ago, Food Depository employees who were members of BGLOs conceived the idea of hosting a repack event for the Divine Nine in honor of Black History Month. With participation from every Chicago chapter of the fraternities and sororities, the event quickly became an annual tradition.
Members of Iota Phi Theta show their fraternity's hand signs before getting to work.
Many of the Divine Nine members were motivated by the fact that food insecurity disproportionately affects communities of color, making their efforts even more significant in addressing hunger.
Volunteers making an impact
Tanisha Jones, a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., attended the event for the first time this year. “I love participating in volunteer events like this one,” Jones said. “When I joined Sigma Gamma Rho, I made a lifelong commitment to service, scholarship and sisterhood.”
“To me, service means giving back to the community. I believe in loving others, and part of loving others is serving them when they need help.”
Tanisha Jones (right) gets ready to repack apples with her sorority sister.
Food Depository board member Waldo E. Johnson, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., participated in the event for the third consecutive year.
“It feels great to be part of today’s event, where the Divine Nine organizations come together to support the Food Depository,” Johnson said. “Events like this are just one of many philanthropic and volunteer activities that the Divine Nine have engaged in since 1906.”
Waldo E. Johnson and his brothers from Alpha Phi Alpha work together to repackage bags of apples.
An active fraternity member since his college years, Johnson has dedicated his time to community service alongside his fraternity brothers. “We see this as another way to engage the communities we serve. We work in many areas to improve our community, and for me, this is a meaningful opportunity to address food insecurity,” he said.
“The Food Depository believes that everyone deserves access to food and actively works to make that a reality. I take every opportunity to support that mission because it truly makes a difference.”
Uniting for a greater cause
As the volunteers packed food until the last second of the competition, the energy in the room remained high. Once the work was done, music filled the warehouse, and participants danced while staff counted the boxes to determine which group packed the most: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Alpha Kappa Alpha works hard to ensure their first-place finish.
In total, Divine Nine volunteers packed 660 cases of apples, amounting to 22,638 pounds of food. All of it was distributed to partner food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other programs in the days following the event.
The first-ever Community Table Challenge, an online fundraising opportunity for the participants, raised $12,150, exceeding the $10,000 goal. These funds will help provide 36,450 meals for Chicagoans experiencing hunger. Alpha Kappa Alpha also won this challenge, securing $3,103 toward the movement to end hunger.
Food Depository COO Jill Rahman (right) with board members Waldo E. Johnson (middle) and Kelly Richmond Pope (left).
“This is the third event we’ve had, and it is a privilege to do it every time,” said Jill Rahman, COO of the Food Depository and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. “The overlap of our collective focus on community service and engaging in the work is what makes this event so fun.”
The Food Depository is grateful to the Divine Nine members who participated in the repack. Their dedication, camaraderie and enthusiasm help continue the tradition of coming together to end food insecurity.
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