The YMCA of Greater Charlotte held the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in person Monday for the first time in three years. The 29th annual event took place at the Charlotte Convention Center in uptown. Proceeds will support programs at the McCrorey YMCA branch on Beatties Ford Road that focus on issues of equity and access in the community.
A large crowd was offered breakfast before being ushered into the convention center’s ballroom for the MLK Day celebration. The West Charlotte High School drumline set the tone for the event as the band marched around the room. Seated among the guests was Stan Law, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. He says the return of the in-person event is a pivotal moment for the community.
“It’s about people getting together, it’s about community, it’s about this energy and being back together is a game-changer from our perspective,” Law said. “It really symbolizes what a prayer breakfast is. We did it virtually in past years, because of the pandemic, but it’s special to be back together.”
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Law was joined by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles. One of the objectives of the YMCA is to support two corridors identified in the mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative.
“We are particularly focused on the Beatties Ford Road corridor, and the West Boulevard corridor, both being Corridors of Opportunity, and how do we make sure those branches and those communities have as much of the Y[MCA] resources as possible to create equity,” Law said.
On the stage was a panel of local leaders, including Kinneil Coltman, executive vice president and chief community and social impact officer for Advocate Health. Coltman discussed how to support the community and how women are a vital component in achieving equity and access for others.
“With Advocate Health, 80% of our workforce is women. So, we are an organization that is fueled by, driven by women,” Coltman said. “For us, this is personal to have women on this stage, kind of pointing to where we need to be as a community … I think women also have a lot to say around on how we raise children, how we make sure there is access to health care in our communities.”
The event also included a montage of some of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s most famous speeches. Before the end of the celebration, Korbin Cummings, who has volunteered at the YMCA branch on Beatties Ford Road since 2012, when she was in middle school, spoke on how to achieve equity. She said society must first listen to the needs of the community.
“Oftentimes, when people talk about what does it looks like to basically give back to the community, they don’t necessarily allow those people to voice what they need,” Cummings said. “I think the important part of it is just centering those who are most marginalized and understanding what they need. We have to recognize those folks have a voice, and we have to amplify that.”
Donations from the event will support critical programming at the McCrorey YMCA branch. Funding will mainly aid youth development, healthy living initiatives and improving health care access with the support of local sponsors.
