(Black PR Wire) -- When Shareef McDonald was 14 years old, his family was looking for something to steer him away from crime and violence in their Chicago community. Though Shareef was only in the 9th grade, he’d already lost classmates to homicide and feared a similar fate. Once he got connected to the Chicago Kappa League; his whole world-view changed. His grades improved, he earned scholarships to Ivy League schools and studied aboard. He graduated and now has a successful banking career.

Kappa Alpha Psi chapters in more than 300 cities across the country practice this kind of life- saving philanthropy every day. While in Orlando, Florida for the fraternity’s 83rd Grand Chapter Meeting July 18-22—the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation wants to salute other organizations and individuals providing life-changing services, too. With that in mind, the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation will honor the Orlando Union Rescue Mission, Orlando community leaders, and several Orlando youth achievers Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at A Celebration of Achievement, 12:00pm-2:00pm at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel. The featured speaker is Susan Taylor, editor-in-chief emeritus of Essence Magazine and Founder & CEO of the National Cares Mentoring Movement.

Event Chairman Donald Bland was so impressed by the effective work at Orlando Union Rescue Mission that he recommended the fraternity provide a monetary investment to support it. “The Orlando Union Rescue Mission works with families and provides all the resources needed to turn your life around,” says Bland. “What they do there is amazing and highly effective. We are excited to sew into the great work being done right here in Orlando.”

L’Mani Viney, the executive director of the Kappa Foundation is proud of the level of philanthropy the fraternity provides nationwide. “It only makes sense for us to invest in ourselves to better control our own narratives,” says Viney. “Along with financial support, we provide human capital via tens of thousands of professional men in chapters around the country who are members of Kappa Alpha Psi.” Tickets are available to the luncheon at www.kappafoundation.org.

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About The Foundation -- The Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation established in 1981 is a 501 (C)(3) organization that exists as the philanthropic arm of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and is a nonprofit, tax exempt, publicly supported entity.