The Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Award Breakfast has humble beginnings which date back to 1987. The initial idea was to create a community wide event that could serve as a means to generate funding for scholarships to be awarded to high school seniors who planned to attend college. Another key objective was for the event to honor an organization or individual that had promoted and exemplified the philosophies of Bro. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This event started out as a “Unity Award Dinner” with an attendance of a couple hundred people. Although the event was small in size, it had a seemingly palpable impact on the local community.

There were several brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha in Columbus who contributed to the initial idea that lead to the creation of the “Unity Award Breakfast”. These brothers as follows: Kenneth Huff, Charles Huff, Jr. and Donald Caldwell, Sr. The ideas of these trailblazers along with valuable input from all brothers in the chapter at that time led to an event which as of 2018 consistently attracts an audience of over 1,000 people. The success of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Award Breakfast has over the last 32 years afforded The Columbus Alphas the ability to present hundreds of high school seniors in the Fountain City and surrounding areas with hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships!!!

In addition to the scholastic benefits achieved via the success of the “Unity Award Breakfast”, it has also served as a means to recognize an individual or an organization that has consistently promoted unity in our community while serving as positive influence in the economic, social, and academic empowerment of its citizens. The “Unity Award Breakfast” has become a long standing must attend event in Columbus the third Monday of each January.