Written by Carolyn Sacha a second year student triple majoring in Sociology, Anthropology, and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She is also our chapter's Public Relations Chairperson.

A sophomore at WMU, Matthew Kornas, is one of our Members of the Month for March! Majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry, he was inducted into our chapter Spring of 2016. In his short time as a member, Matthew has been a wonderful and active member. He has volunteered at several events including our most recent inductions and he’s always had a cheery attitude no matter the task at hand. When asked why he joined ALD, Matthew said, “I wanted to become more involved in both the WMU and Kalamazoo communities. I also believed that ALD would provide me with a great opportunity to meet and connect with new people in these communities.” We hope through your copious amount of volunteering and your shining personality, that you’ve been able to feel both of these impacts from being a part of ALD. Matthew also told us that he’s been very happy in ALD and is honored to be Member of the Month! Matthew's favorite ALD event has been ushering at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre for To Kill a Mockingbird which gave him the opportunity to experience something new in the community. In addition to ALD, Matthew is on the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC) which operates out of Sindecuse. We’re thankful to have Matthew as such a dedicated member of our ALD family! 
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Another sophomore at WMU, Claire Spivey, is also one of our Members of the Month for March! She and Matthew are twinning by mothing majoring in Biochemistry/Biomedical Sciences! Coming into ALD last spring, Claire has been volunteering with us regularly and has left a lasting impression on our chapter already. Our recent Mattawan Food Pantry volunteer event was Claire’s favorite event she’s volunteered with and we were so happy to have her there! On top of being an outstanding ALD member, Claire is in the Lee Honors College while juggling her time between volunteering with both Red Cross and the WMU Beekeepers! We’re so happy she finds the time to work with ALD and be an irreplaceable part of our WMU chapter. If all of this weren’t enough, she’s also currently working as a Phlebotomist at Borgess Medical Center and is planning on pursuing a career in Neurosurgery. Whew! What a gal and we are so happy to have you on our ALD team! 
Both of these members have worked so hard and been absolute joys to work with and we can’t wait to see where they go in life. Time will tell the amazing things they will do for ALD and what ALD will do for them!

Written by Carolyn Sacha a second year student triple majoring in Sociology, Anthropology, and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She is also our chapter's Public Relations Chairperson.

​An Alpha Lambda Delta member since Spring 2016, Laurel Jungblut is a sophomore at WMU studying English Secondary Education and Behavioral Sciences. With her charming personality and fun attitude, our ALD executive board fell in love!
Laurel was originally interested in ALD because of her family’s affinity for honors societies but then fell in love with the volunteer opportunities and relationships she’s been able to form. We’re happy she found reasons to grow and learn from ALD and we’ve benefitted from her dedication and commitment to our organization.
When she volunteered with Zoo Boo, she enjoyed working with the kids “and watching everyone have fun at the various activities that were set up.” We’re so happy she enjoyed this event!
On top of ALD, Laurel is in the Lee Honors College and tries to volunteer when she can with her packed schedule! We appreciate her dedication to working with ALD even when she’s busy with her other obligations!
Congratulations, Laurel, and we can’t wait to see what else you do for our organization! 

Written by Carla Sacha a second year student triple majoring in Sociology, Anthropology, and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She is also our chapter's Public Relations Chairperson.
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An Alpha Lambda Delta member since Spring 2016, Brianna Van Houten is a sophomore at WMU studying Choral and General Music Education. In her short time as a member of our chapter, she has left an impression on us and we hope we’ve done the same for her. 
When asked why she joined ALD, Brianna told us that she wanted to “find ways to get more involved on campus and in the community and also meet some new people.” During her time at volunteer events, she’s had the chance to interact with our other members and we hope these connections last. 
Brianna told us, “I have meet some amazing people through this organization and have been able to be a part of many volunteering activities.” 
On top of ALD, Brianna is in the Lee Honors College as well as a member of NAfME which is the National Association for Music Education. Being as involved as she is, you may think Brianna would be tuckered out – but no! Brianna also participates in Miss America pageants and, in doing so, is involved in even more community service. If that wasn’t enough, Brianna is also on the praise band for her church and helps out at after school events for elementary schools. Overall, we think Brianna is a shining star! 
“This is a great organization and I am thankful I am a part of it,” Brianna told us, and we are thankful for her too! 
Our other Member of the Month, Bridget Bucaro, is a junior at WMU majoring in Speech-Language Pathology and minoring in Family Life Education. Coming into ALD in Spring of 2015, Bridget “wanted to be meet new people, be involved on campus, and the Kalamazoo area.” We’re happy that Bridget got involved with ALD and we appreciate all she’s done for us! 
A past volunteering event at the Bronson Commons was Bridget’s favorite volunteering she’s done with ALD. We loved having her there with us and she enjoyed it, saying “It was a lot of fun to be able to interact with residents and help them with different arts and crafts.” 
Coupled with ALD, Bridget is also a member of the American Sign Language Club and the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association. She also volunteers with a communication station preschool. We love to see how involved and dedicated Bridget is even outside of ALD. 
In addition to everything we have listed, Bridget is also a Learning Community Assistant in her residence hall and she has been extremely helpful in letting us hold ALD info sessions in her hall. 
Almost most importantly, Bridget has time in her busy schedule to enjoy a good cup of Joe, “Coffee is my favorite,” she says. Keep drinking that coffee, Bridget. 
Both Bridget and Brianna volunteered at our Camp Kidwell event this past semester and we had so much fun spending time with them. They “helped serve and prepare meals for their Christmas celebration,” said Brianna. We’ve enjoyed having them in our chapter so much and we look forward to their continued dedication and membership. ALD appreciates what all our members bring to our chapter, and we are especially thankful for the contributions from Bridget and Brianna. Congratulations, you two!

Written by Danielle Snow. ​Danielle is a second-year sophomore studying Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies. She is our chapter's Historian and the Co-President and Co-Founder of the WMU RSO FemiNOW.​

​Behavioral Psychology major and second-year student, Jessica Good has been chosen as WMU’s Alpha Lambda Delta November member of the month. Jessica has been a member of our organization since the spring 2016 semester and has been an incredibly active member ever since. 
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“I chose to join ALD because I wanted to be involved in something at Western Michigan University, and ALD seemed like a great group to be apart of,” said Jessica. “The people are very nice and welcoming and being active in the group is rewarding.” 

Jessica’s favorite ALD events are actually our General Assembly meetings. Held the first Tuesday and Wednesday of every month, we try to bring in speakers and showcase new volunteer events that will help out the Kalamazoo community at each one. Jessica’s positive attitude and solid attendance had been recognized and were probably the biggest reasons ALD recognized her for this honor. 

“I am happy that I chose to be a member of ALD because it’s a fun group to be a part of and there are so many opportunities to volunteer and better the community of Kalamazoo,” said Jessica. 
Jessica isn’t just an amazing member of Alpha Lambda Delta, she is also a member of the Lee Honors College and Psi Chi, the National Honor Society for Psychology. She also volunteers at the Kalamazoo Animal Rescue, God’s Kitchen in Grand Rapids and at the YWCA in her hometown. What an amazing person! Thank you so much for your volunteer work, positive attitude and joy for ALD. Congratulations!

Written by Danielle Snow. ​Danielle is a second-year sophomore studying Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies. She is our chapter's Public Relations Chairperson and the Co-President and Co-Founder of the WMU RSO FemiNOW.​

Behavioral Psychology and Biomedical Science student, Kelly Snow is one of our October Members of the Month! She has been a superb member since this past spring semester and has been loving it ever since. “I felt that joining ALD would open doors for me that I could not receive anywhere else,” said Kelly. “I also liked the idea of meeting new people that I could vibe with, those whom I could learn from and teach in return.” 
As a big fan of volunteering, Kelly is one of our best table volunteers! “It helps me spread the word about ALD and let others know why they should join,” Kelly said. “I love to be able to share my experiences and hope that someone could join and be as happy as I am.” 
Kelly is such an upbeat and positive member! This chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta is lucky to have such a motivated person in our organization. “I love being a member of ALD and it is one of the best experiences for me. Meeting new people and giving back to my community is something I love to do,” said Kelly. “I am very passionate about this organization and am honored to receive this recognition!” 
Biomedical major and second-year student, Alexandria Amponsah is being recognized as one of our October Members of the Month! This wonderful member joined ALD in the Spring of 2016 and has been an incredibly involved members ever since. 
“I am very happy I joined ALD. I love doing the volunteer work and getting to interact with different people,” said Alexandria. “Everyone on the ALD board are also really nice, every time I walk into in a meeting they are always laughing about something. It is very welcoming.” 
It’s important to ALD to have members who are not only active in their volunteer work, but also attentive at meetings and Alexandria accomplishes both. She’s always early to every meeting and is always paying attention to our discussion. 
“My favorite event was working the information table. I had a lot of fun and there was never a dull moment,” said Alexandria. “I also loved to tell the freshman about this great honor society. My favorite part was them telling us that this was motivation for them to get good grades.” 
A side note about our awesome members of the month, they actually met at an information table (hence their excitement for these events). Now, they are like two peas in a pod! Thank you both for being such outstanding members and brining such a positive atmosphere to our meetings! Congratulations on this honor!

Throughout the first few weeks of the semester, Alpha Lambda Delta hosted a donations drive for the SPCA of Southwest Michigan, collecting items on the organization's wishlist to help care for the dogs and cats in the shelter.

​From January 11th to the 22nd, 14 members made donations, and 20 volunteers joined us on Saturday, Januardy 23rd to make blankets and toys.

Altogether, the donations we collected were enough to fill up an entire SUV. Thank you, donors and volunteers! 

​Visit our gallery to see more pictures from the event.