Alpha Kappa Alpha to Assemble 20,000 Meal Bags and Cuddle Kits for Vulnerable Youth at 2025 Leadership Seminar in Anaheim

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® will host its 2025 International Leadership Seminar from July 10–13, 2025, at the Anaheim Convention Center, bringing together more than 9,600 members from around the world. Guided by the theme “Pathways to Soar: Unlocking Impactful Leadership,” the seminar will celebrate leadership, community, and service in alignment with International President & CEO Danette Anthony Reed’s administration theme, “Soaring to Greater Heights of Service and Sisterhood.”

Founded in 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha has spent 117 years championing leadership development, civic engagement, and transformative service. This year’s seminar continues that tradition with a focus not only on building leadership capacity within the sisterhood, but also on directly addressing urgent community needs in Anaheim, where more than 15,000 students face food insecurity and nearly 3,900 individuals experience homelessness.

As part of the event, members will unite for two major service initiatives on Friday, July 11, 2025:

Empower Our Families: Weekend Meal Bag Assembly
From 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center, members will assemble 10,000 weekend meal bags as part of the sorority’s Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack (CHIPP™) program. These meal bags, distributed to over 200 organizations supporting unhoused youth, aim to help children focus, learn, and thrive in and out of the classroom.

Comfort & Care: The Warm Hugs Project
Also from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., members will pack 10,000 “Cuddle Kits” containing a soft blanket and a 12–14-inch cuddle toy. Designed to provide comfort and emotional support, these kits will be distributed to children facing housing instability and trauma.

Alpha Kappa Alpha’s 2025 International Leadership Seminar promises not only to strengthen leadership within its membership, but also to make a meaningful, lasting impact on the Anaheim community.