SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority descended on Franklin Elementary in Salt Lake City to take hundreds of children outside for a day of fun and games.
There were hula-hoops, basketball and jump rope. A freshly painted mural on a wall of Franklin Elementary's mascot, the eagle, courtesy of the sorority.
"We’re doing an Impact Day," said Cheryl Turner, the international president of Delta Sigma Theta. "It’s what we call our service projects when we go into communities. This Impact Day involves the movement and physical activities and the care and well-being of your body."
Delta Sigma Theta is holding a regional conference in Salt Lake City this week. The historically Black sorority, founded at Howard University in 1913, now has a global reach with more than 350,000 members. Franklin Elementary in Salt Lake City was chosen partly because it's in the legislative district of Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, who is a member of the sorority.
"Delta Sigma Theta is an organization of predominantly Black women, but we have women from every ethnic background that are members," Turner said. "Not only ethnic — religious backgrounds, political backgrounds. Our focus is service and social action."
The organization's members do community service work whenever they meet. Antoinette Walker, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, said it was good to see the kids play outside.
"It’s amazing to see the kids smiling and having fun and being outside, which is huge for children today," she said. "Be outside; they can play, have fun and enjoy themselves."
