For the Greater Good
As an event producer, most of the time, we are working on meetings for corporate or association clients. We help their employees or members work to be more innovative in order to increase market share or to recognize the performance of their audience.
Then there are events that are for the greater good of our society. In this case, the event was for those who live on the west or south sides of Chicago. Both of these areas are of low income. On Thursday, September 19th at St. Ignatius High School the Chicago Area Chapter of Meeting Professionals International had the privilege of planning and producing the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning (CRCL) as part of our Community Outreach Program.
CRCL has three locations that serve 700+ people daily. Each location is dedicated to the memory of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Robertson. These are the four girls who died in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15th, 1963.
These centers evolved in response to the voiced needs of our families. Since the Center’s inception, they have added many programs to meet community needs.These programs include: center–based and home-based child development programs for children from birth through five years of age, school age and youth programming for children and teens through age 18, extensive family support, social services, and parent education activities, adult education and community training, and imbedded program enhancements including music education, family literacy and family health education.
This event was a rededication of their mission and services to those whose lives were tragically taken, as well as linking the past, the present, and the future of CRCL and the community. CRCL’s goal was to revisit their historical roots, talk about the center’s progress to date, and where they hope to go in the future.
The Mistress of Ceremonies, Leah Hope of ABC 7 News Chicago, led the program. The program was full of inspiring speeches from several of their past leaders; including Carole’s sister Dianne Robertson Braddock.
The keynote speaker was William McNary, who has worked for the public interest for 25 years. He delivered a rousing speech to motivate the audience.
Concluding the evening was 14 year old Alex DuBuclet. Her voice inspired everyone and demonstrated how CRLC can nurture its students to such a level of excellence. The evening finished with the CRCL students singing “Wake Up Everybody”.
Wendy Mitchell Gill, Vice President for External Relations for CRCL, followed up by saying, “We are still floating after last Thursday’s spectacular event! Each of us had smiles on our faces from ear to ear throughout the evening’s program and that feeling has certainly carried over to this week. The energy from the evening has fueled the fire within us to push on and use this as our opportunity to springboard CRCL into the future and on to bigger and better things. The feedback we received from our guests and staff alike was extremely positive.
We thank you for everything you’ve done to help leave a lasting impression on the minds of those who were in attendance Thursday! I truly believe the best is yet to come!”
