Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship, Inc. ®

DIVAS IN ACTION

IN AND AROUND THE DC METRO AREA,
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

November 23 - 24, 2009

In collaboration with the LeadershipCares/MentorCares Program, Sisters of D.C. Metro Grad volunteered to assemble and deliver Thanksgiving Baskets that included not only grocery items, but household items and toiletries.

These items were distributed to over 650 families in the Metro area, primarily serving some of the families within our Mentoring Program at Northwestern High School in Adelphi, Maryland.

OLA Family & Hello Friends,

This weekend was spent doing what we do best and that is providing community service. On Friday evening, Sisters spent a couple of hours volunteering for the National Day of Service with the Alzheimer's Association making calls to past supporters of the 2008 Memory Walk and encouraging them to support the 2009 Walk. 
 
On Saturday, Sisters came out and supported the Daughter For The Day Annual Senior cook-out, which was a huge event with entertainment from the Iverson Mall Walkers/Dancers, Oxon Hill High School band, step team and choir.

Many officials from Prince George's County attended the event as well. Sisters, I can't thank you enough for giving up your weekend to support our community projects. 

Special thanks goes out to Alisa, Antonia, Barbara, Bobbi, Brenda T., Brenda T.S. (Founder), Cookie, Deidre, and Krystal.  Without your support, this would not have been possible.

Mary Johnson, President, D.C. Metro Graduate Chapter

September 11 & 12, 2009
 

COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT

Daughter For The Day Staff Members & DC Metro Graduate Chapter Members

Mrs. Vanessa Gibbs Hilliard was the Daughter For The Day for my mother, Mrs. Wilhelmina Tillman, on Monday, June 4.   She accompanied my mother to two (2) doctor appointments at the Washington Hospital Center.

Upon meeting Mrs. Gibbs Hilliard, I knew that my mother was in good hands.  Her patience and caring spirit for my mother was overwhelming.  Even though my mother suffers with dementia, she remembered Ms. Gibbs! I am just elated that Mrs. Gibbs Hilliard is a volunteer with your organization and she represented your organization well!

Marsha T. Zackery , Daughter of Mrs. Wilhelmina Tillman

* DAUGHTER FOR THE DAY" is a non-profit community-based organization, whose headquarters are in Prince George's County Maryland and supported by the D.C. Metro Graduate Chapter.   Sisters participate in this program by volunteering their time to drive SENIOR CITIZENS to their doctor appointments, local shopping trips and even make home or nursing home visits.

Brothers' Family Grows in Unusual Ways

Left to Right:  Chanda Copeland, Sister Denise Robinson, Andre & Deon Thomas

By John Kelly, Washington Post
Tuesday, July 3, 2007; Page B03

Who benefits from Camp Moss Hollow? Kids like the ones my assistant, Julia Feldmeier, writes about today.

Family. How to define it? Where does it start and stop? And how to explain the blurry lines that connect strangers, that make them family?

For Deon and Andre Thomas , family begins in the nuclear sense, with their mother and their six brothers and sisters. Andre, 10, and Deon, 13, are the youngest -- boys who love football and basketball and video games.

They have long eyelashes and shy smiles that belie their energy -- both have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, so there is always something atwitter. It can be Deon, folding a plastic bag into tiny squares, or it can be Andre, whipping out a piece of paper to play hangman. It can be both of them, tapping their foreheads lightly on the kitchen table, a maneuver begun by Deon but copied by Andre, each unleashing that slow smile as they drum in unison.

With them at the table are Aunt Chanda and Aunt Denise -- also their family, if not their flesh and blood. Chanda Copeland is Deon's Godmother, a title bestowed on her when Chanda's sister married Deon's uncle and Deon lived with the couple for a year.

Chanda, who is single and without children, came to love Deon like one of her own, even after her sister divorced his uncle, even after he moved back in with his mom.

It's a blurry line, indeed.

Aunt Denise is Denise Robinson , the boys' foster mom. They've lived with her in Fort Washington, MD since December 2005, when they were taken from their mother, who couldn't care for them. Denise opened her home and heart. She has two biological children -- a son, 22, and daughter, 17 -- who still live at home, but she says she wanted to give back to the community, wanted to help kids in need.

She got the two boys -- who she says "fill a part of my family" -- but she also got Chanda, who lives nearby and has taken an active role in caring for the boys.

And when two people love and care for the same children, day after day, another bond emerges.

"I made a great friend, a lifelong friend," Chanda says of Denise, who nods in agreement.

The boys see their siblings and their mom every Sunday, and they try to get together for birthdays and holidays. They are well-adjusted in their new home, with Denise and her children, and Chanda, too. But a new family doesn't displace the old -- more people to love and to love them doesn't mean that there isn't a void, an ache for their mom.

So when Family and Child Services, the nonprofit group that runs Camp Moss Hollow, where the boys will return this week for the second summer, offers tickets to a D.C. United soccer game, -- one each for Denise, Chanda, Deon and Andre -- the boys are ecstatic. But then Deon tugs at Chanda's sleeve, lifts his long lashes and asks if maybe they could get a fifth ticket, so that his mom can come, too.

That's the thing about family, after all. It grows in all sorts of wonderful ways, but you always remember where it began.

Sisters:   Julie Johnson

On Saturday, August 25th, Contee AME Zion Church and the NOVA Chapter of Groove Phi Groove, S.F.I. hosted their 3rd Annual CommunityFest & "Back-to-School Jamboree".

This event included a clothing give-away -- back-to-school supplies -- a parent/student forum -- fun, food and fellowship for all of the community.   Brothers from the NOVA chapter provided food and their expertise grilling skills, a moonbounce and their time. The Sisters made a monetary contribution, provided backpacks, school supplies and helped serve meals to all who attended.

Sister Crystal Wyatt

Sister Crystal Wyatt was appointed to sit on the Senior Citizens Advisory Board by Mayor Garrett Smith of

Roselle, New Jersey.   On Saturday, August 25, 2007, the Senior Citizens Advisory Board held their annual Luncheon.   Sister Crystal was in attendance and had a fabulous time.

Sister Toni Miles-Maloney

By Christina Breda Antoniades
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page N01

It's September, and by now you probably have played host to the usual assortment of summer guests, all seeking to hit the usual assortment of tourist destinations. You have trekked to the National Zoo, covered miles of polished floor in Smithsonian museums, solemnly moved shoulder-to-sweaty-shoulder past the various war memorials.

Sure, you've enjoyed showing off the nation's capital, but secretly you've started to dream about ever-so-gently nudging your guests off the beaten path, giving them a unique taste of Washington.

But where to go? And what to do? We asked a few of the area's better-known locals to chime in with their favorite not-so-touristy destinations for a day with visitors. Some were born and reared here and others are transplants, but all have a special place in their heart for what Washington has to offer.

Justine Love

Radio personality for WPGC-FM (95.5)

Lives in: Michigan Park in the District

"I love taking folks to the Frederick Douglass home . It's beautiful, and people are surprised because they didn't know about it. And it's free! I also love taking them to see 'The Awakening' and to the Anacostia museum , which is very culturally enriched. And then I like taking them to different places to eat. There's a Dominican restaurant, Julitas , in Hyattsville that I really like. It's inexpensive but nice, and it's family owned."

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, 1411 W St. SE, 202-426-5961. Free.

"The Awakening," Hains Point , southern tip of East Potomac Park, Ohio Drive SW. (Plans call for the sculpture to be moved to the National Harbor project in Prince George's County .)

Anacostia Community Museum , 1901 Fort Pl. SE, 202-633-4820, http:/ / anacostia.si.edu . Free.

Julitas Restaurant, 6521 Riggs Rd., Hyattsville, 301-559-0958