Social Butterfly

By Cheryl Kortemeier

October 30, 2007 5:44 PM | Link to this

Dear Social Butterfly:

I would like to invite you to the 3rd Annual Keeping it Wild Gala, Saturday, November 3rd. The event is presented by Southern Company, and we will begin at 6:15 PM with a cocktail party followed at 7:00 PM with our Program/Dinner. Keeping it Wild is a program that focuss on engaging African-Americans and the environment. The honorary host of our event is Laura Turner Seydel, and we are also supported by Congressman John Lewis. For more information, please read the following press release or visit www.keepingitwild.org. We welcome any coverage in your lively column! Many thanks, Cheryl Kortemeier, Keeping it Wild Steering Committee

ATLANTA – August 1, 2007 – Majora Carter said “Enough!” to the proliferation of heavy industry in her neighborhood and the proposal to build a waste treatment plant nearby. Her South Bronx community was already overburdened with industrial sites, as well as multiple railroads and highways. The success achieved by the organization she co-founded, Sustainable South Bronx, has become a model for communities around the country to reverse decline, create parks, attract green businesses and improve the quality of life for residents.

Ms. Carter, winner of the MacArthur Foundation’s $500,000 Genius Award 2005, will bring her empowering message to Atlanta November 3, 2007, as Keynote Speaker at the Third Annual “Keeping It Wild” Gala. Appropriately, she will address the topic, “Protecting Your Environment: The Power of One” at the Georgia Freight Depot, 65 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. beginning at 7 p.m.

Honorary Chair of the Gala, Laura Seydel, joins Co-Chairs Dr. Michael Battle, president of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) and Mrs. Battle; and Woody and Carol Bartlett, founders of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light. A Host Committee comprised of racially diverse Atlantans rounds out the team.

“Keeping It Wild,” (KIW) an award-winning program of the Wilderness Society, seeks to inspire members of urban Atlanta communities to get more involved with the enjoyment and protection of our natural resources. Its leadership includes representatives from a slew of local and national conservation organizations, academic institutions and recreation-focused groups such as the Georgia Conservancy, Georgia ForestWatch, Trees Atlanta, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Edge of Night Camping Club, National Wildlife Federation, and The Conservation Fund. The program organizes adventures into Georgia’s wild lands and urban green spaces throughout the year. A Seminar Series — conducted in partnership with local universities — highlights the record of environmental work, scholarship and perspectives of African Americans and other people of color. The goal is to connect and expand the constituency of people working to cherish our environment

“In all my travels and speaking engagements before environmental groups across this nation, I have never seen an event that is so diverse,” said Charles Jordan, Chairman of the Conservation Fund, during his keynote at the 2006 Gala.

Over the past three years, “Keeping It Wild” has afforded hundreds of people the opportunity to explore and learn about the outdoors, with many participants returning on a regular basis. To celebrate Earth Day 2007, “Keeping It Wild” presented a National African American Earth Day Summit, “Stewardship and Sustainability,” at the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel, Morehouse College, April 19.”Keeping It Wild” has been featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution; Crossroads News, WAOK 1380, WABE 90.1 and Comcast Community Channel 25. It received the “New Environmental Initiative” Award from Earth Share of Georgia in 2007.