Purple rain, purple rain. When will the sun shine again? That didn’t stop May Day and Cinco de Mayo from occurring all in one week. It’s enough to keep a person very busy, light-hearted and full of laughter, not to mention the tequila.
Also kicking off the month of May was the pep rally for Assemblyman Keith Wright, who is running for Congress and reminding everyone to vote in the primary on June 28. A funeral service for David Cummings, one of the main staples of 121st Street and 7th Avenue, Deloris Poindexter’s sister with a repast at Sylvia’s and a memorial service for Richard Freeman, gate keeper of Chapel of Intercession at 155th Street at Broadway, all took place on one day.
The Circleletts of Philadelphia rocked the home of Wes and Renee Allen with an old-fashioned reggae party in the basement. The lights were dim, the Jamaican rum punch tasty and the meat patties, rice and peas, jerk chicken and plantain smoking. The trio playing live music were the absolute best. I haven’t heard it that good in a very long time. Even when everyone else wasn’t up on the dance floor, I was. The party was cross-generational, with Julia Mitchell being the youngest in attendance and Wiladeen Bains, who was on the dance floor, and Margie Chew possibly being the oldest. Everyone else was somewhere in between.
Northside Center for Child Development hosted their long awaited, eagerly anticipated gala at Cipriani’s 42nd Street, and every seat in the house was taken. The speeches this year were especially moving, particularly that of Kate Clark Harris, Council of Advisors, former executive director of Northside. Speaking with tears in her eyes, Clark Harris recalled how her mom and dad, Kenneth and Mamie Clark, founders of Northside, began the organization while working out of their living room in the Dunbar Housing Complex, located on Harlem’s upper north side. Hence the name Northside Center.
Also giving a deeply committed, rousing, salt of the Earth speech was Dr. Thelma Dye, Ph.D., the Hilde L. Mosse executive director/CEO, whose love for the work she does never disappoints. Perhaps, with enough encouragement and chanting of her name (“Thelma, Thelma”), she will share some of the excerpts from her remarks, as they were truly inspiring. Together, along with chairman of the board, Michael Goldstein, we know why we want to give, give, give to support Northside Center. They give so much love towards helping our children grow, stabilize our community with a myriad of programs and provide the light at the end of the tunnel where there is none (or so it seems) while asking for so little.
Early Head Start/Head Start and early learning programs are established in Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, so you can only imagine the number of families for whom Northside provides therapeutic and health services. Also functioning at a high level is Shahara’s Kids’ Closet, behavioral health school programs/clinics, art therapy/creative arts programs, home-based crisis intervention programs, after school and summer programs; remedial and after school education, the Hilde Mosse tutorial program and the Therapeutic Early Childhood Center and Early Intervention program. Wow! That is a lot for any one organization to undertake, but Northside has been able to handle it while making it all seem so easy.
Honoring those who also make the job seem so easy, the 2015 Hammond Award, in honor of legendary musician John Hammond, a founding board member of Northside, was presented to Susan E. and Alan J. Patricof. Much like John Hammond, whose music and strong social commitment brought superior talent together to perform quality work to create change, create change, the Patricof family and their incredible talent have performed miracles at Northside with “quality, grace and unwavering commitment.” The 2016 Mamie Award was presented to Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault, Carol Sutton Lewis, Esq. and William Lewis Jr., Nina Mitchell Wells, Esq. and Theodore Wells Jr., Esq. Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark epitomized public service by showing how one person can effect change. Together, the evening’s awardees have done the same with their unwavering philanthropic work throughout the underserved communities. The 2016 Dinner chairs were Carolyn Wright Lewis and Edward Lewis. Carolyn is currently senior vice president of Northside, as her background in advocating for children’s and women’s health and education over the past decades has been nothing less than phenomenal. Carolyn, who also sits on the board of the School of American Ballet, is responsible for establishing a fund to annually provide six to eight full scholarships to students of color to attend the very prestigious SAB.
Guests were led into the main dining room to the percussion sounds of Northside Center’s after-school drummers, led by percussion instructor Don Babetundre Eaton, in partnership with Harlem School of the Arts. Once guests were seated, musician Wynton Marsalis along with Ali Jackson, drums, Walter Blanding, sax, Dan Nimmer, piano, and Carlos Henriquez, bass, spiced things up with a welcoming musical selection. Deborah Roberts served as Mistress of Ceremonies. The auction and fund-raising program was led by expert auctioneer, CK Swett. Yes, they raised oodles.
Feeling absolutely inspired and after making a donation to Northside you still want to give, give, give? Consider the Vaseline Healing Project. Working in partnership with Direct Relief, which has anointed actress Viola Davis as spokesperson, Vaseline is providing jars of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly, as well as other much needed supplies, to aid in relief efforts around the world. Direct Relief is a nonprofit organization that provides medical assistance to people around the world who have been affected by poverty, natural disasters and civil unrest. Direct Relief works with health care professionals and organizations on the ground and equips them with the essential medicines and supplies they need to help people recover.
Although many of us have used Vaseline on our faces for years, as a natural skin protector from the harsh elements, it has been found that people who are suffering from being in the hot sun after crossing the desert to escape their war-torn countries, whose feet are covered with blisters after having to walk with no shoes and suffering from other traumas to the skin, have been healed with the application of Vaseline. Beginning in 2016, for every purchase of a Vaseline product, Vaseline is donating 2 cents to the Direct Relief fund, up to a maximum of 1 million dollars. Additionally, you can build your own relief kit by logging onto www.vaseline.us or the Vaseline Healing Project: Direct Relief Charity and Aid, and selecting the medical supplies you would like to add to the kit that already contains a jar of Vaseline. The kit will then be transported to people much in need of these supplies. Hope you are feeling very philanthropic.
Until next week … kisses.