The St. Louis Chapter of the Links, Incorporated is celebrating 70 years of friendship and service to the St. Louis community. Presently, the chapter consists of 57 active, eight alumnae and four platinum members. It will celebrate its 70th anniversary on April 15 and renew its dedication to friendship and service, with newly elected chapter President Rochelle Calhoun presiding at the event.
The Links, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of African-American women committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic prosperity of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The membership consists of 15,000 professional women of color in 285 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
In April 1948, the St. Louis Chapter became the first Links, Inc. chapter west of the Mississippi River in an induction ceremony conducted by Frances Vashon Atkinson, a charter member of the mother Philadelphia Chapter and sister of St. Louis’ Blanche Vashon Sinkler. The eight St. Louis Chapter chartered members are Joy Blache, Ollie Carpenter, Mary Evans, Charlotte Ford, Alice Hardings, Anna Lee Scott, Blanche Vashon Sinkler and Melba Sweets.
Scott established the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the YWCA and the first camp for black girls in Missouri, Camp Derricotte. Vashon Sinkler was the granddaughter of George B. Vashon, the St. Louis educator for whom Vashon High School was named. Sweets was a columnist for The St. Louis American whose husband, Nathaniel Sweets, co-owned the paper with Judge N. B. Young.
National, local and international members of The Links, Inc. give back to their communities through contributing their time, energy and finances to individual and community causes as well as to charitable organizations whose goals parallel that of the Links, Inc.
In St. Louis, Links, Inc. started My Sister’s Keeper: Pipeline to College in 2009 to support the academic success of underserved students from 6th grade through college graduation. The students are coached in college and career readiness skills, teamwork, interpersonal relationships, self-motivated responsibility, personal finance, community service and knowledge of diverse cultures. The St. Louis Chapter has given over $40,000 in scholarships to local girls who are first-generation college students within the past five years. Currently the chapter supports seven first-generation and/or underserved students financially, mentally, and emotionally.
In 2012, the St. Louis Chapter began Mentoring Village, a math-mentoring program that uses KhanAcademy.org to provide STEM education and mentorship to students at Cool Valley and Vogt elementary schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Members mentor students in the use of the internet, encourage self-esteem, and provide school supplies, healthy snacks and bookmarks with wisdom quotes that are used to generate discussion.
In 2014, the chapter donated 10 Nexus-7 tablets to the Ferguson Municipal Library and five tablets to Cool Valley Elementary School to facilitate teachers’ ability to monitor the KhanAcademy.org practice of students in real-time. The timing of the gift of gift before the 2014 Ferguson unrest enhanced the library’s ability to extend safe haven to local students and to access KhanAcademy.org after school hours and over the summer.
Since 2014, the chapter has donated 150 Aqua Tablets and over 500 black tennis shoes for students in schools in Grand Goave, Haiti.
In 2014 and 2016, the chapter held two successful “Celebration of Mother’s” fundraising luncheons” around Mother’s Day to honor women who have made significant contributions to our region and to raise money to fund college scholarships and other community projects.
In 2018, the chapter donated 25 Dell Laptops to Vogt Elementary School to facilitate student access to KhanAcademy.org.
In cooperation with Ally Financial (formerly GMAC), members of the St. Louis Chapter have presented workshops on financial literacy, budgeting and the importance of good credit monitoring to students at various high schools, including Vashon High School.
Through its dental health workshop, the chapter has presented “Lessons in a Lunch Box” to 300 second and third graders at various schools around the region.
The chapter presents Celebrating Sheroes, an awareness program that raises awareness and appreciation of women in the military.
The chapter plays an important role in the annual Walk To End Alzheimer’s Disease, which raises knowledge and awareness of the disease and supports research and support systems available to caregivers in St. Louis. In conjunction with the National Minority Donor Awareness Day, the chapter embarked on a national campaign to make churches aware of the need for organ, eye and tissue donors from blacks.
