What started out as a date auction to aid Haitians after a tragic earthquake four years ago has evolved into a way to honor a brother whose life met an abrupt end.
The fourth annual Date for a Cause charity date auction is more than Valentine’s Day fun; it is a way for the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity to give opportunity to other brothers and the community.
The event was first started by Campus PALS to raise funds for Haiti relief through the Yele Foundation. The auction took on a more personal mission when Campus PALS and AKΨ member Roy J. Kerlegan was killed in an accident.
Chapter brother Ronald Alexander, the founder of Campus PALS, joined AKΨ to expand the date auction program.
“He came to the chapter and was like we can do this date auction and raise money and it can go to a scholarship we have set up in Roy’s name,” said Victor Johnson, event organizer and chapter brother. “It would be a memorial for what he did for people he had met in that short period of time. He was a member of both organizations, so it was just a win win for everybody.”
Other brothers in the fraternity that had a strong bond with Kerlegan were quick to support AKΨ’s role in the charity.
“After he was killed his family wanted to start up a scholarship in his honor,” said chapter brother Jerell Abrams.
Abrams met Kerlegan soon after he came to Georgia State and the two developed a quick bond.
“Roy was my little.” Abrams said he acted as Kerlegan’s mentor while he was pledging for fraternity. “It’s kind of like a family member, a little brother or a little sister…I transferred from Alabama State and that was my first little. It was unfortunate that he was killed.”
Abrams said a motorcycle accident ended Kerlegan’s life in March, 2010. He was a managerial science major in his junior year.
The Roy J. Kerlegan III Scholarship, started by his parents after his death, gives financial aid to other AKΨ members with good grades who need assistance. the scholarship is available for brothers not in their senior year.
The other half of the money from the auction this year will go towards a 4-year-old boy the brothers heard about while doing a community service project with campus housing.
Josiah Johnson, whose grandmother works in the housing office, is in remission from neuroblastoma cancer—a childhood illness that left his family with numerous medical bills.
“At the age of three [Josiah] had already been through four chemotherapy [sessions] and several surgeries,” Johnson said. “I just kinda got attached to the story because cancer is pretty big to me.”
Johnson said he entered the chapter to get support for treating the young boy and the brothers and Campus PALS were excited to help.
This year the charity will be going towards Josiah’s medical bills in addition to the scholarship fund.
