On Tuesday, members of Atlanta’s business and civic community honored leaders who have left a positive, powerful impact on our city. The Atlanta Business League’s Men of Influence gala hailed 25 economic, political, educational and civil rights leaders and inducted into its Legends Hall of Fame Nathaniel R. Goldston III, Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough and William “Sonny” Walker.
“It is dangerous to put a retired pastor in front of a microphone,” said Kimbrough, who for years served the congregation of Cascade United Methodist Church. The Atlanta native and Morris Brown graduate’s inspirational mini-sermon concluded, “You might be from a ghetto, you might be from a single-parent home, you might even have matriculated at Morris Brown College, but you are somebody.”
Goldston, chairman and CEO of Gourmet Services, has pledged or contributed more than $50 million to historically black colleges and universities and said, “My only regret is that my parents aren’t here to see this. It was from them that I learned it’s better to give than receive.”
Walker, who served as the CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and as a speech writer for the late Coretta Scott King, has held numerous community leadership roles. “I’ve held more nonpaying jobs than any other Atlanta resident,” he joked.
The event’s chairs were Scarlet Pressley-Brown, Delta Airlines’ director of external affairs and community relations, and Sharmen Gowens, the AJC’s community engagement manager. V-103’s Frank Ski and WSB-TV’s Jovita Moore emceed. A highlight of the evening was the posthumous Legacy Award presented to the family of the late Nathaniel H. Bronner Sr., who started the Bronner Brothers haircare empire. His widow, Robbie Bronner and son Nathaniel Jr. were joined onstage by a host of family members, and the audience was reminded of the elder Bronner’s famous edict: “Keep God first, family second, and business third.”
Atlanta’s “Idol” to host fundraiser
Ryan Seacrest, the highly compensated host of “American Idol,” is coming home this fall. The Dunwoody High School graduate, who just inked a three-year, $45 million contract, lends his priceless talents to the Hearts and Hands Gala, benefiting Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities. It’s Oct. 24 at the World of Coca-Cola. Coke is the event’s presenting sponsor and vice president Javier Goizueta, who heads the company’s worldwide McDonald’s division, chairs. Muhtar Kent, president and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, is honorary chair.
The event aids Atlanta’s two Ronald McDonald Houses, where families from elsewhere can stay while their children receive medical treatment here. They’re asked to pay $20 per night, but no one is turned away if they can’t afford to pay. Last year, ARMHC opened a $15.7 million, 50-bedroom facility to meet growing need. The new home, along with the 11-bedroom house on Peachtree Dunwoody Road, serves more than 2,000 families a year.
“Despite a tough economy, we expect this inaugural event will be successful in raising funds to support families in need,” said Linda M. Morris, president and CEO of Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities. She attended a recent kickoff event, along with ARMHC chairman Bob Morrison, patron committee chair Karin Smithson, host committee co-chairs Alice Turner and Rob Turner, sponsorship committee co-chair David Lerner, and Jeff Wansley, ARMHC’s special events chair. For sponsorship info contact Shannon Murphy Courtney at 678-704-8086 or see www.armh.com.
It’s blue-collar, not black-tie
Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian, game-show host, family man and philanthropist, is good at a lot of things. Dressing up is not one of them. (From the way he carried on before an event earlier this year, you’d be safe to bet he’d rather kiss a duck than wear a tuxedo). So Southwest Christian Care’s 17th annual benefit dinner and auction gala ought to be right up his alley. The event, planned for Aug. 20 at the Georgia International Convention Center near the airport, is as dressy as you want to make it. Photos from past events show Foxworthy looking right at home in a blue work shirt. This year’s bash, catered by Proof of the Pudding, features the premiere of a new song recorded by artist Brent Cochran, written in honor of special-needs children. Foxworthy will be introduced by Chick-fil-A’s Truett Cathy, honorary chairman of the Founders Legacy Campaign to build a new SCC facility that will house an adult day program.
For 26 years, Southwest Christian Care in Union City has provided home and in-patient hospice care, respite care for special-needs children, and spiritual support for families healing from the loss of loved ones. Its facilities and programs are provided at no cost, so organizers look to the annual fundraiser to support its mission.
Janice Wright and a platoon of volunteers are putting on the gala, to be emceed by SCC administrator Mike Sorrow. Tickets are $125 each. See www.swchristiancare.org or call at 770-969-8354.
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