R.I.S.E. Advocacy donation drive

LEXIE THAYER
PHOTOGRAPHER

ANDREW SECORD
STAFF WRITER

2/23/2026

Two of the campus sororities, Kappa Iota (KI) and Alpha Gamma Delta (AGD), are holding a donation drive in support of R.I.S.E. Advocacy, Inc. between Feb. 8 and Feb. 28. The donation drive is looking for sanitary products, toiletries and nonperishable food items. 

This drive is open to all of Alma, both the city and the college. Students and community members can drop these items off to Starbucks/Alma College Bookstore (328 W Superior St), Ballyhoo Books and Brew (111 W Superior St), the Thomas Andison Chapel (614 W Superior St) and the First Presbyterian Church (495 Charles Ave). All locations have bins with posters about the donation drive.

“The donation drive is a toiletry, hygiene products and non-perishables drive. It supports my [Kappa Iota’s] philanthropy, R.I.S.E. It’s an event we do often and [it] always has a successful outcome… Kappa Iota partnered with Alpha Gamma Delta because their philanthropy [focus] is [fighting] hunger, which has a direct link to our donation drive.” said Avery Andrews (‘28), who worked on the donation drive. 

“I wanted to see if we [AGD] could… help local organizations [and] collect things, so I reached out to KI… [They said,] ‘Hey, we’re gonna have these bins out, do you want to join us?” said Ananya Prabhuram (‘27), a member of AGD.

R.I.S.E. Advocacy, Inc. “provides intimate partner & sexual assault support services in Clare, Isabella, and Gratiot counties,” and their “mission is to provide safety and empowerment to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and to work to eliminate sexual victimization and intimate partner violence through shelter, treatment, education and social change,” according to the R.I.S.E. website. Their crisis line is available 24/7/365 at (844) 349-6177.

The full list of items that the donation drive is looking for are paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, body and face wash, menstrual products and nonperishable food items.

“Some other events I put on that I’m proud of [are] ‘Love Letters [from] KI,’ where we made Valentine’s day cards for the victims and staff of RISE. I also coordinated Kappa Iota’s annual charity event, ‘KIsses for Charity,’” said Andrews.

“Last Wednesday [AGD]  had an event with LEAPS where we packed 60 meal kits, for children, that were donated to the community cabinet. We also, on Thursday and Friday, had ‘Alpha Grab a Donut,’ and we raised about $330 for… the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation. And we also have a partnership now with the community cabinet to donate $50 a month in goods. So last week we donated baby products to the community cabinet,” said Prabhuram. 

The Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation provides hunger grants to NGOs, scholarships for sisters in need, has a partnership with Feeding America and Meals on Wheels and helps sisters affected by natural disasters.

 Other ways to support R.I.S.E. Advocacy, Inc. are through monetary donations, either online or via mail. To donate physical items, R.I.S.E. asks that the Community Engagement specialist be contacted at (989) 773-7960. Due to space limitations they may not be able to take physical items at certain times. Two other ways to support R.I.S.E. is their Amazon wish list, linked on their website under the Ways to Give tab and their endowment fund with the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation, which can be reached at (989) 773-7322.