National Iniatives

Operation Big Book Bag

Operation Big Book Bag is a program designed to address the needs, challenges and issues that face school-aged children who are educationally at-risk, in local homeless shelters and extended-care hospitals and facilities. Through this program, chapters and members collect and donate educational materials, equipment and school supplies.

Our goal is to:

Provide quick and easy access to reference materials and other studying aids and tools that will help students with educational endeavors.
Equip students with the means of completing their homework assignments in effort to keep them current and up to date.
Assist shelters, youth centers, schools and hospitals in their efforts to meet some of the educational needs of children and young adults housed at their facilities.

Women's Wellness Initiative

The Women’s Wellness Initiative is a consolidated effort that allows chapters to focus on health issues that impact women; specifically, women of color. The Women’s Wellness Initiative was developed after the Sorority’s participation in the United Nations/March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness panel in New York. Acceptable educational and programmatic efforts under this Initiative include, but are not limited to Breast Cancer Awareness, Intimate and Domestic Violence, Heart Health, Diabetes Health, Mental Health and other issues that target women. WWI programs can be conducted at any time during the sorority year.

Our goal is to:

Encourage women to maintain a healthy lifestyle and minimize health risks
Empower women to make informed decisions about their physical, mental, and emotional health
Ensure there is a representative number of African American women in health studies

Swim1922

Our goal is to strengthen USA Swimming’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by breaking down barriers, created by a lack of access and exposure, and expanding our footprint in the local community to increase swim participation and decrease drowning rates.

Program Benefits:

Provides opportunities for youth and adults within the African-American community to learn water safety in general and swimming specifically.
Reduces the level of fear and apprehension of learning to swim.
Opens minds and changes attitudes regarding Blacks and swimming.

Projected Cradle Care

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s Project CRADLE Care is one of our essential programs designed to raise awareness of disparate and inequitable maternal and infant health outcomes Black women endure through community outreach, advocacy, education, and implicit bias training. In so doing, we aim to mitigate outcome and life-course disparities in our communities.

Annual Youth Symposium

Held simultaneously, on the second Saturday of March by Alumnae Chapters across the nation, our Youth Symposium serves as a unifying effort during Sigma Week. The Symposium (supported by undergraduate chapters and affiliates) is designed to highlight some of the prevalent concerns that negatively impact our youth (drugs, teen violence, abuse, low self-esteem, suicide, teen pregnancy, human trafficking, etc.).