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Over the weekend, a group of Lanett locals could be seen taking a break to rock in a line of rocking chairs together at the Lanett Kroger for Rock-A-Thon. The event hosted by the Lambda Zeta Omega (LZO) Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was rated a success.

Donations from the event will support the group’s scholarship fund and will go to a local student on their way to college. LZO is a service organization founded in 1908 on the campus of Howard University. 

The group is the nation’s oldest African-American Sorority. According to its website, “For over 100 years, the sorority has served mankind through community service worldwide.” As a service organization, the group receives most of its funding from fundraisers. 

LZO Rock-A-Thon Chairman Sophronia Winston was in charge of organizing the event. LZO President Kimberly Marshall said the Rock-A-Thon is an annual event but because of the COVID pandemic, the group has not been able to host it until now. 

The members take four-hour turns rocking and speaking with community members about their goal to assist local high school and college students in obtaining their educational goals.

“We had a pretty busy day, a pretty impactful day,” Marshal added. 

LZO chapter members had a full weekend. In addition to the Rock-A-Thon, they partnered with Life South Community Blood Centers to host a blood drive, “Blood is Life,” at Kroger. 

This is the second year that the group has held the blood drive. According to Marshall, the number of participants has grown since last year from 22 to 35-36 participants. 

“Life South is always ready to come out when we call them and set that up, and they’re so pleasant to work with,” Marshall said. “… The mayor came out, and council folks and some others in the community.”

“It was a good day of giving back to the community,” she added.

The next event that the organization will be participating in is the citywide Juneteenth celebration on June 19. Marshall said they will be passing out information on voter registration during the event.