At a black-tie gala held a week or so ago, some of Atlanta's best students mingled with some of Atlanta's top dignitaries and celebrities. Actress Victoria Rowell was in the house. So were civil rights icon Xernona Clayton and international environmental advocate Laura Turner Seydel.
It was a heady moment for Mary Parker, the founder and owner of ALL N ONE Security Services and the woman with a heart big enough to have awarded over the past five years more than 30 high school students scholarships totaling $100,000.
On this night alone, the Mary Parker Foundation was poised to award 10 students — including Nyeta Thomas, Shantrice Appleby and Cheryl Dixon — scholarships worth another $25,000.
Her generosity dates back to 2008, when she overheard a group of mothers lamenting the cost of educating their children, especially beyond high school.
“It struck a chord with me,” Parker said, remembering the conversation.
She wondered if ALL N ONE had done enough to support the children of her employees, and so she asked her company’s field supervisors to determine how many single parents were there with school-age children.
“I wanted their ages and grades,” Parker recalled. “They came back with the names of 37 children.”
Parker, herself a grandmother, decided then to host a back-to-school bash at her home. But it wouldn’t be enough just to fill book bags with school supplies and send them on their way. She wanted to touch them, talk to them, cause them to feel loved and valued.
More than anything, she wanted them to see what was possible with an education and hard work.
“That day was as rewarding as anything I have ever done,” Parker said.
That day, she and the children giggled down a huge water slide. They ate cotton candy and hot dogs. They danced and their eyes popped as they watched an elaborate fireworks display.
The following year, 75 children showed up and the year after that nearly 150. In 2011, Parker added a college scholarship component to the annual bash. But after years of single-handedly financing both the back-to-school party and the scholarships, she hosted the inaugural “Raising Other Generations” Gala in 2014 to raise awareness about her efforts and expand her reach to the next generation of leaders.
If this strikes you as another handout for people unwilling or unable to help themselves, you’re wrong. This is about giving kids a hand up and encouraging them to reach back to help others. Students awarded the scholarships have to meet a list of criteria, the main one being to help mentor other school-age children, share their on-campus experiences and what it takes to prepare for college and beyond.
“They do a fabulous job with that,” Parker said.
LeAndrea Holliday, 21, has done that work. She was among those first students who attended one of Parker’s back-to-school bashes, who for the past four years has benefited from her scholarship fund, and who knows firsthand the power of being mentored and mentoring others.
Parker modeled for her what it meant to be a woman “and walk in the grace and favor of God,” Holliday said. “Now that I’m finished with school, I plan to start working with youth in my church so that what was poured into me will manifest in others. Every seed she has planted will be harvested. I’ve seen and experienced the benefit, now I just want to be a part of the domino effect.”
Had it not been for Parker’s support, Holliday said she would not have been able to afford college.
“I didn’t have the means, but my family was just going to make it work,” she said. “Having her fill the gap was beyond amazing. It took pressure off my back and helped me graduate on time.”
Holliday graduated May 13 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Augusta University, becoming the first in her immediate family to graduate from college.
This year has been both busy and rewarding for Parker, who considers herself a surrogate grandmother/auntie to Holliday and the others. Sixteen students who attended the annual back-to-school bash graduated from high school. Ten, including Holliday, graduated from college. Two of them have been accepted and enrolled in medical school.
Parker attended six of the 10 college graduations.
At the gala last month, she looked out at the sea of people in the Hyatt ballroom and saw the fruits of her labor. More than 500 people had turned out in support of her foundation and “Raising Other Generations,” donating more than $60,000 and surpassing this year’s fundraising goal by some $10,000.
She couldn’t have done it, she said, had it not been for a “phenomenal team.” That team included board members, volunteers and business partners like natural gas provider AGL Resources, the Hyatt and MyPledger, a mobile platform designed to simplify fundraising for nonprofits. Because of them, Holliday and the others will be able to continue pursuing their dreams. That happens to still include Parker’s back-to-school bash.
“It’s like a family reunion that you don’t want to miss,” Holliday said.
Well, that ought to tell us all something. I can’t think of one 21-year-old who ever enjoyed a family reunion.
