Two local organizations are working to enrich our community.
Just a few days prior to the Community Enrichment Dinner, organizer Jerome O'Neal told us that the dinner is about optics and engagement. It's about changing the way people view other people, and having them come together who normally don't get in the same circles. "At the end of the day what we try to do with the Community Enrichment Dinner is to let people know that it's OK to be uncomfortable. To let people know that it's OK to go places where they may not look like you, may not act like you, may not have the same beliefs as you have, but at the end of the day, that's how we grow."
The Community Enrichment Dinner is held every year to raise money for the Walter Potts Entrepreneur and Technology Center which helps establish and grow minority and small businesses. O'Neal proudly announced that the dinner is a sell out with more than 500 tickets sold. It's scheduled for September 28 with guest speaker Roland Martin.
United Way Executive Director Derek Stemen also spoke. The 2019 United Way campaign just kicked off with a goal of $1.65 million. The funds are distributed to local agencies such as the American Red Cross, the Bradfield Center and the Salvation Army based on the community's needs. "Our goal is not simply to raise funds for agencies, but it's actually to fund solutions to problems. Problems and challenges that we all face in the community, that we all see in the community. We know that the best way to achieve those goals, to make sustained change in our community, is to work collaboratively together to make a difference. That's why our mission at the United Way is to improve lives by uniting the caring power of our community."
Also at Monday's meeting, Mayce McCreery and Tim Fitzpatrick from the UNOH Rotaract Club donated $250 from their Color Run to the Lima Rotary Foundation to help fight the opioid and homelessness crisis in Lima.
And we had a laugh-out-loud version of the Way Test sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle led by Marin Harbur.
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