|
Pastor T.A. Smith, Sr. of First Baptist Church of Fostoria
said the invocation for dinner.
Continuing the event after dinner was the awarding of the
prestigious Charles H. Penn Humanitarian Award to Yolanda
Jackson. The 2009 Penn Award recipient, Charles Doneghy,
judge of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, presented
this honor.
Then it was time for the keynote speaker. Morial’s keynote
address was more like a motivational call to citizens to let
them know what they can do to help the community and the
nation. Morial spoke of the challenges the country faces as
the recession and the decade-long war ends, as well as other
obstacles.
"We need to think about what we can contribute to the
society coming out of this decade,” he said. “We have to
build in order to compete on a global level with other
communities."
Other topics he touched upon were having the Urban League
maintain its strong position in the community and keep
providing programs in the areas of economic empowerment
issues, job training, housing, small business development
and preparation of youth. As local recognition, he commented
on the good works and support of John Jones, president and
CEO of GTUL.
"John is one of our exciting and dynamic new leaders who
certainly represents the next generation of the Urban
League,” Morial said.
There was also a mention of the “I am Empowered” pledge that
contains four goals that the League would like to accomplish
by 2025: 1) Every American child is ready for college work
and life. 2) Every American has access to jobs in a living
wage and good benefits. 3) Every American lives in safe,
decent, affordable and energy efficient housing on fair
terms. 4) Every American has access to quality and
affordable health care solutions. This pledge is to increase
individual empowerment and hope so that change can be
possible and lasting.
John Jones wrapped up the occasion with remarks and more
thanks. The night ended with a live entertainment of Motown
Revue from CRSmith Productions.
“We still have a lot of work to do in the community and many
problems to resolve,” Jones said. “We want to motivate
people to do more with volunteering and move to a higher
level of service.”
The GTUL was established in 1996 and has striven to uphold
its mission of “improving the social and economic conditions
of each individual in our community, particularly
African-Americans, other minorities and those that are
underserved.”
|
