 Dead to doubt, dumb to discouragement, and blind to impossibilities. That's a motto I strive to live by and it's something I believe Dr. King carried out and would encourage others to do so. As I look across this room, I am filled with so much hope because I know I am looking at young men and young women who are going to continue to carry out Dr. King's legacy. Remember no matter where you come from, what your background is, or how old you are, each and every single one of you has the potential to leave a positive mark on this world. And so again, I am so grateful to be here tonight and today what we're going to do is celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King. Let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. We come with celebratory hearts on today. We come boldly before your throne of grace, thanking you for life, health, and strength. As we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we are reminded of his courage, his boldness, his unwavering commitment to see the lives of our brothers and sisters change forever. We are grateful for his work and his spirit, which lives through us even to this day. We are reminded through God's word that our love must be sincere, hate what is evil, and cling to what is good. Today we remember his life, even in death there was victory. We ask for your grace and your mercy to be upon us throughout this program. We pray for all who are under the sign of our voice. We pray for lives to be changed, minds to be renewed, and hearts to be impacted forevermore. We ask all these things in the precious name who created us and the one who keeps us from falling. Let every heart in this place say amen. I will say this. 32 years of celebrating and commemorating the life and service of Dr. King is something very special. Many of you may remember that back just 37 years ago in this country, it wasn't always popular, actually, to have a King holiday. So many people in this room had to fight to make sure that nationally, that this day would indeed be a nationally recognized holiday. And to know that we were ahead of the curve because the leadership of our great city council, city council members then, led of course by Councilor W. Cromarty, that this has become a standard event. And to see so many of our citizens come out to not take a day off, not only take a day off, but to come out and commemorate what it means to be a Columbia, what it means to be a South Carolinian, what it means to be an American, is incredibly important and humbling. I do have the responsibility of certainly recognizing our members of city council, our Mayor Pro Tem, Divine Councilman Ed McDowell, Councilman Daniel Rickerman, Councilman Howard Duvall, Councilman Sam Davis, and those of you who don't know Will Brennan yet, Will Brennan is a new member of city council, which means he also gets a responsibility for all the pothole phone calls. He gets a responsibility for all the water sewer phone calls, so I'm going to give you Will's cell phone number before we leave here. Councilman Will Brennan, we've been joined of course by the Chairman of our County Council, Paul Livingston. See the Chairman of our school board, Jamie Devine, our wonderful Chiefs of both the Fire Department, Columbia Richard Fire Department Chief Jenkins and Chief Skip Holbrook of the Police Department, our Superintendents of Education, both Superintendent Livingston and Livingston Witherspoon, you don't even look alike. Witherspoon and Davis, thank you so much for the great educational leadership. Dare Burrows, candidate for Congress, I think we had at least one presidential candidate here. South Carolina is a road to the White House, y'all, so we had a whole lot of folks here asking for your votes here today. I know we had Tulsi Gabbard here today, but all the candidates, almost all of them right here in Columbia, South Carolina today, paying the people of South Carolina with respect to asking for their votes. It's important because we know that the power of the ballot is something that we've fought and many people have marched, bled and died for. And it's something that we can never take for granted young people. We need you to make us a promise that you will always vote. We're not going to tell you who to vote for, that's your call. You decide who you're going to vote for, but you make sure that when you turn 18 that you register to vote and that you always vote your conscience, vote for men and women who support the things that you believe in, who support the things that mean something to your community. It's a treasured right that we believe is personified, indeed, on this day. My friend Seth Rose, I'm not sure if I recognize you early. I got a note here, but I looked right over you. A state representative who represents this district and did so ably so well on County Council for many moons. Have I missed any other elected officials or appointed officials? Make sure I didn't miss anyone else. There's a number of our neighborhood presidents. The city is a collection of great people and great families who make up great neighborhoods. Great neighborhoods make a great city. So I want to thank the men and women who do the hard work on the ground every single day, keeping our communities together and creating places where these young people can grow up and live up to the God-given potential. We know that you can do great things. We expect great things from you. We don't want B's and C's. We want A's. We want you to do amazing things that we know you're able to do. And that's what today is about celebrating your accomplishments thus far and knowing that this is only a beginning. That activism without action is just a conversation. We want you to go out and do great things because we know what you're made of. We know what you come from. So there's a long way of saying welcome. Welcome to Columbia, South Carolina. We're not too famously hot today, but we're still Columbia and we're a place that since March 17, 1786, a place here, the first planned capital city in the United States on the tail of plantation where the Saludin Broad River's met the form of the Congruy Ferdal soil where the darkness of America's past has led us to the challenging present that we still face in this country. But we know that this is still the greatest democratic nation in the history of the world. Our future is bright, but it will only be bright if we're intentional about making it bright. Thank you all. God bless you. God keep you. Good afternoon. Protocol been set. Thank the mayor for that excellent speech. I'd like to thank you for coming out and like to welcome you to the Martin Luther King Junior neighborhood. Welcome to our community. I hope that you enjoy yourself today. And I'd like to thank the Martin Luther King Park staff for hosting this and for getting all the seats and everything arranged. I'd like to thank the other members of the Martin Luther King Junior neighborhood association. If there are any members of the association, would they please stand as members of the association? Thank you so much for your hard work in keeping the Martin Luther King Junior neighborhood well. So welcome, sit back, listen, learn and let's do more than just come out to commemorate Martin Luther King Day. One of the things that Dr. King fought so hard for was the right to vote. From Selma to Montgomery, the fight was to vote. This is 2020. This is an election year. Make sure in November that you do go out and that you do cast your vote because many have died for us to have the right to do this. So without further ado, on behalf of the mayor and city council, Dr. Bambi Gaddis would like to make a proclamation presentation today. Good evening. Regardless of your spiritual leaning, before I say these brief comments, I want to share something. You know, young people watch all kinds of things on television. You know, whether it's Netflix or whatever gets their fancy out. I have a grandson who I believe is in here somewhere and we were coming down the street and he had some interesting things to say and I had to remind him that it's by God's grace and mercy that you have an opportunity to pursue many of the dreams that you talk about on a regular basis. And so I would encourage you, you know, as we sit around and share family time, that you might take a few moments to view a film that I witnessed recently called Overcomer because it speaks to why Ms. Armstead asked me to share with you about Joy Holman. Joy Holman was an inspiration to not only many people, but to children throughout this country and throughout this community. Overcomer is a story of one young black woman, young black girl who had many problems of abandonment, etc. I won't tell the storyline, but what I'll tell you is that the man that ended up coaching her knew in his head that he was going to be coaching this phenomenal basketball team only to find out that that was taken away from him and he was placed in a situation where he ended up with only one student who showed up to compete or to try out for track. She ended up winning the state championship. So it goes to show that it's not about how many, it's about how one person and one student who has his head on straight and who has a desire to achieve can make it happen. So the purpose today is to commemorate Joy Holman during 2017 a local fitness magazine it was called Fit Columbia and the Midlands anchor honored local women in fitness with a monthly feature celebrating their contributions in our Midlands community. These women were believed to be the best of the best in health and wellness industries. The women were local, small business owners, they were active in their communities and they had a minimum of five years experience. The February feature of that magazine commemorated Joy Holman. Joy Holman was head coach of the 30 time and I think maybe 31 time world champion double Dutch forces which has a history of many athletic tributes. Joy not only played professional basketball but she also played volleyball, softball, she ran track and in addition she was the team captain and MVP of all of those teams at some point. Her prestigious athletic abilities earned her a scholarship at Benedict College. Not only was she an athlete, she was an artist and she received a scholarship in honor of that talent. She was born in Manhattan, New York but moved to Lexington, South Carolina when she was only 13 months years old and she lived with her grandmother. Growing up she stated that she had never eaten in a restaurant. That changed her senior year of high school when she won a free dinner at a fancy restaurant after she won not for double Dutch but for an art contest. The portrait that she won the dinner for was a charcoal drawn of a picture of birds who were wearing gas masks and they were there to symbolize pollution. In addition to this award she also drew cartoons for her high school newspaper at Lexington High School. Joy explained that her love of coaching as they began early on and she talked about how sports were her way out of getting out of the house. I can testify to that. She would only go to church, school and then it was time for sports. She wanted children and young people to do what they loved. She wanted to support them in any way she knew how and that is why although she never practiced double Dutch jumping she agreed to coach the team. At first she was hesitant but it was the group of teenagers who desired to jump rope and needed a coach where she overlooked her own personal desires and took them on. She explained that she watched the practices and it won her heart and 31 years later she was still doing it. So just a final few notes about Joy. For those of you that didn't know her favorite food she said her favorite food was sweet cornbread, broccoli spinach and mostly southern food. She loved eating at Lizards Thicket. They asked her do you have any current goals or resolutions and she said I try to be the best that I can be with everything that I do. I strive to be in the best health and pray for my friends and my family and my team for their success. Currently I'm trying to eat healthier and work out a lot. I want education but not being healthy and so I need to change that, don't we all? So in closure she said what is the quote that you live by? She said it takes a village to raise a child. My grandmother and all of her 12 kids raised me and that is what makes me want to give back. So it's the reason that I'm still coaching. Get up and move. I wanted kids to be more active to promote healthy activities and to promote more than that a spirit of camaraderie and commitment. And so it is on this day I'm Martin Luther King's celebration that we celebrate the legacy of Joy Holman and all that she brought to this community. We will remember her always. Is there a representative for Joy to receive her proclamation? Little Joy. Good you're going up. You know we dedicated Joy Day back May 26 in 2019 thanks to Councilman Egan McDowell and so through him and City Council and the mayor. We now take this time today to give this proclamation from our Honorable Mayor Steve Benjamin and the Columbia City Council. There's a lot of where as and here as and that so I'm not going to read all that today but it says now therefore I Steve K. Benjamin Mayor of the City of Columbia along with my fellow members of the Columbia City Council do hereby proclaim Sunday May 26, 2019 as Joy Holman Day. Here we go little Joy. She's shy she doesn't want to think. Thank you all. Thank you for coming to our community. Take a look around, ride around and enjoy yourself today. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. This with great excitement that I present this evening the top parks and schools in this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Food Drive. Annually the City of Columbia parks facilities as well as every school in Richland School District 1 collect non-perishable food items for donation to support the Harvest Hope Food Bank. Proceeds from the food ghost directly into the community in which these entities serve. We are pleased to announce that the collaborated efforts resulted in over 8,000 pounds of food being donated to Harvest Hope. Tonight I will announce the top parks and schools and as I call your names if you would please come forward to be recognized. For the city parks in second place we have Greenview Park with 207 pounds being donated and in first place this year we have a two-way tie raising 281 pounds each. We have Lorrick Park and Martin Luther King Jr. Park. For our Richland 1 schools in third place with 793 pounds Southeast Middle School with Miss Inger Ferguson as principal and being represented tonight as well accompanying Miss Ferguson Mr. Oliver Thompson and Dolores Goodwin. In second place with 808 pounds Metafield Elementary School Lisa Davis principal and our reigning champs again this year Burton Pack Elementary School with 2056 pounds Dr. Sarah Smith principal ladies and gentlemen please again give these award recipients here a round of applause and thank each and every one of them for their participation in this year's event and in closing just wanted to leave you with a quote a selfless quote. Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return but because of who you are. Thank you so much and have a great evening. Alright so a moment a lot of you parents have been waiting for. Now it's time to honor our honorable mention category and we have 8 students in that. You guys ready? Alright let me pull up the list. Honorable mention Jasmine Alexander Coleman Westwood High School let's give her a big round of applause. Now let me explain these students are nominees who are being recognized for their community service efforts and contributions to the community again when your name is called come up and you can take a great picture. Alright next up we have Taylor Bloomfield Spring Valley High School Kaylee Bright South Aiken High School Karen Crawford Blythewood High School Jalen Jennings Alissa Millbauer Sumter High School Madison Pollock Dutch Fork High School and last but not least Jordan Ward Keenan High School. Alright and now for the recognition of our scholarship winners in the elementary school middle high school levels and as your names are called we're asking each student to please come forward and receive your, what would we call that a nice little plaque alright first up for elementary winner are you guys ready it is first place Jackson Singleton fourth grade Center for Knowledge alright middle school winners y'all ready alright deciding third place Darius Moye eighth grade Wilson Hall then second place Kyan Chavis Rutledge seventh grade southeast middle school first place goes to Justice Sumter sixth grade Kelly Mill Middle School next up we have our high school winners third place Michael Washington eleventh grade South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools second place Sierra Sumter eleventh grade Ridgeview High School and then first place we have Nia Burton twelfth grade Sierra High School alright can we give everybody a big round of applause again so many people are so proud of what you did y'all this is just the beginning yes if you can get a standing ovation I love that what they are doing is amazing so I get the honor of introducing our keynote speaker for tonight Dr. Bobby Donaldson now as a native of Augusta Georgia Dr. Bobby Donaldson serves an associate professor of history and is the director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina he received his undergraduate degree in history and African American studies from Wesleyan University and Middletown Connecticut and his PhD in American history from Emory University presently he serves as the lead scholar and director for the Columbia SC 63 it's an amazing documentary project that examines the struggle of civil rights and social justice and Columbia and around the state of South Carolina during Dr. Donaldson's academic career he served as a Benjamin E. Mays Andrew Mellon fellow as an editorial assistant for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. papers project at Emory and Stanford universities as a Thurgood Marshall dissertation fellow and a visiting assistant professor at Dartmouth College and as a fellow of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American research at Harvard University and as a recipient of many awards which you probably can understand why including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award in 2016 in 2018 he received the South Carolina Governors Award in Historic Preservation and the South Carolina Governors Humanities Award and y'all that's just to name a few Dr. Donaldson's memberships include the Association for the Study of African American Life and History the Organization of American Historians the National Historical Association the South Carolina Archives and History Commission the editorial board of the University of South Carolina Press the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission the South Carolinian Society the NAACP Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and the Wesleyan University Aborted Trustees I'm not sure how he has time for all of it but he does let's welcome Dr. Bobby Donaldson Thank you very much to Mayor Benjamin members of City Council, Richland County Leaders to Ms. Baskins and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation Committee to Ms. Clark and the Martin Luther King Jr. neighborhood to the staff of the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department to all members of Elected-of-Office and all those who aspire to elective office to the President of NAACP of Columbia Ms. Oveda Glover students and to all of you as a professor of history I'm honored and humbled by the invitation to be with you this afternoon we assemble in this part this part to honor and to remember the life of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a leader of extraordinary courage and vision who left us an enduring message of resistance of justice of equality and redemption redemption how appropriate and ironic it is that this program takes place in this part this part of Flatland along Rocky Branch Creek a symbolic space once in the minds and memories of some in this room a place of division and restriction now a site of redevelopment recreation and transformation we gather in this part a meeting ground in the valley this part to the east Millwood Avenue the University of South Carolina to the south Shandon to the north Waverley and here we come together hailing from every direction many experiences and many backgrounds to celebrate the life of a drum major for justice a brilliant young preacher who used his eloquent voice and his intellectual gifts and marched into battle against injustice we gather in this part where there is on the edge of these grounds an extraordinary memorial called the stone of hope a memorial dedicated in 1996 led by the JC's the NAACP the National Council of Negro Women churches students schools all gave money for bricks to build a monument honoring Dr. King it was not easy sometimes it was hopeless but others persisted a stone of hope we will hew out of a mountain of despair a stone of hope we will hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope we will hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope if anyone knew the history of Dr. King you would know that he was emphatic that he was simply one voice one person in the movement it was September 30th 1959 Dr. King looked at a photographer and stood for a photo that photo was now on display in the rear of this gymnasium it was taking place at First Calvary Baptist Church Dr. King was 30 years old he had come to Columbia for a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference it was a conference organized by a funeral home director named I.S. Levy and a Methodist minister named Matthew McCullough and also an extraordinary civil rights leader named Ella J. Baker Ms. Baker came to Columbia to plan this meeting and Dr. King was a featured speaker when they came from nearly every corner of this nation at the Township Auditorium and First Calvary Church they came here to discuss inequities in education and call for federal intervention in schools that practice racial discrimination they also came to discuss inequities in voting and said we will commit all of our resources to ensuring that everyone who is qualified to vote will have the power and the ability to vote but while they were here they also gathered for a banquet to honor Dr. King now remember this is 1959 he is 30 years old he said I am of the mind that we are about to witness an awakening in this nation an awakening led by young people September 1959 and Dr. King said I want you also to know that this movement is not simply about me I'm just the pilot of the movement there is no journey without the grounds crew and tonight we celebrate the grounds crew he repeated those same words in 1964 when he received the Nobel Peace Prize he said I accept this award on behalf of the nameless men and women who are willing to die for righteousness sake their names will never be in any history book their names will never be in who's who but one day men and women will know and children will be taught in this world people who are willing to suffer for righteousness so today as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. King we need not travel to Birmingham or Selma or Montgomery or Washington DC we can just drive around this neighborhood drive through King Park and Waverly and see history that matters as we honor Dr. King the champion of voting rights and as we mark the 60th anniversary of the voting rights bill we are reminded today of a young man who lived in this community named George Elmore George Elmore lived at 907 Tree Street just take Green Street look back down the road he operated a store at 2313 Jervais Street and George Elmore simply wanted to vote in August of 1946 when he tried to vote in the Democratic Party he was told that Negroes would not permit it to vote so George Elmore secured the help of a local attorney named Harold Bullware who lived in Allen Benedict Court and they filed a lawsuit called Elmore v. Rice and George Elmore was successful in breaking down racial discrimination in voting in South Carolina he was successful but he suffered indignity upon indignity George Elmore this community lost his store lost his home lost his wife and some members of his family and died of early death the same year that Dr. King came to Columbia as we honor Dr. King and the push for equity in education we honor the poor families of Clareton County South Carolina who filed a lawsuit for better schools in a case called Briggs v. Elliott but as we remember them we remember those here in Columbia who supported them a young preacher named Joseph Delaney who once lived on Taylor Street an NAACP named Majeska Simpkins who lived on Pine Street an educator named Walker Solomon who lived on Millwood Avenue and a Baptist preacher an insurance agent who lived in the 1200 block of Hight Street his name was the Reverend James Hinton who even when attacked and kidnapped by the Klan in the 1950s he kept on pushing for civil rights as we honor Dr. King today the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott we traveled down Green Street across Millwood to the 1100 block of Page Street and there was an empty lot but in 1954 in that empty lot there was a house a house where a young 19 year old woman named Sarah Mae Fleming lived she was originally from Eastover but in June of 1954 Sarah Mae Fleming boarded the bus to go to work in Shandon and she sat down in the first available seat a seat reserved by law for white people the bus driver the man that she moved and go to the back of the bus she said not today she decided to get off that bus rather than suffering in dignity and as she tried to get off the bus she was beaten by the bus driver Sarah Mae Fleming filed a lawsuit called Fleming versus SCENG and that lawsuit unraveled segregation on buses in Columbia 17 months before Rosa Parks we honor Sarah Mae Fleming today as we honor Dr. King the prophet of a new awakening we honor students throughout Columbia who joined the caravan of civil rights workers we traveled to the 1100 block of Oak Street and there was a white house in Louis we traveled the Laurel Street there's a two story house the home of Talmadge Neal we go to the 1400 block of Hyde Street where once lived Milton Green we traveled Long Marion Street across from Old Booker T. Washington High School and there lived a woman named Maddie Johnson who's here today all of these students in March of 1960 protested segregation and convicted and in 1964 the United States Supreme Court overturned the convictions of young people right here in Columbia, South Carolina as we honor Dr. King today we go down Green Street and go to the corner of college in Oak there's now a high rise building called Errington Manor but in 1960 there was a Methodist minister named Reverend I.D. Quincy Newman who lived in this community and on a Friday in July of 1960 Reverend Newman and his child and four other students from C.A. Johnson High School decided they wanted to have a picnic on the day before they looked across the street and they saw white kids in this park they also knew there was a policeman who carried a shotgun who chased away the black children but in July of 1960 they came across the street they came with a picnic basket and a blanket and they had a sit-in right here in Valley Park and they stayed to the police chase them away as we honor Dr. King we honor a generation of people of this community who simply looked across the street and knew if they even came across the street or touched the grass on this park they would be arrested as we honor Dr. King today we honor all the foot soldiers and all the members of the grounds crew we honor Benjamin Mack Oliver Washington Sr two men who on April the 3rd 1968 they invited Dr. King to speak here in Columbia at the Zion Baptist Church the day before he received the telegram that said regrettably Dr. King is delayed in Memphis and he will join you at another time April 3rd 1968 he was supposed to be in Columbia and on that night he gave his final sermon he said I may not get there with you but we as a people will get to the promised land I may not get there with you but we as a people will get to the promised land on April 4th Dr. King was killed in Memphis a few days later his mentor a man named Dr. Benjamin Mays gave his eulogy and he said Dr. King's work on earth must truly be our own Dr. King's work on earth was truly be our own every year we have programs like this every year we honor Dr. King but what will we do tomorrow what will we do next week Dr. King's work on earth must be our own one last person I work at the University of South Carolina my office is on the other side of Green Street and periodically I would travel down Green Street pass this part I would turn left on Oak I would pass the home of a leader of this community named Durham Carter and then I would get to Pendleton and I would turn right on Pendleton and my car in front of 2310 Pendleton Street and there the professor went to meet the real professor there I went to meet a woman named Donella Brown Wilson a teacher an activist and I would sit down and listen to her I sat down and listened to her to the very end until she was 108 years old and she said Dr. Donaldson there's a problem with you all I said Ms. Wilson what's the problem she said there's too much teaching in the textbook our history should not be in the textbook it needs to be in your heart and in your mind in your heart and in your mind she says history has no purpose unless you use it and I've been using it since 1946 never missing an election history has no purpose unless you use it so my brothers and sisters of Columbia if you want to honor Dr. King then use this history use it as we raise our children and teach our students use this history as we demand better schools better wages and better healthcare in this country use this history as we speak truth to power and blow the trumpet against wrong use this history as we challenge and tunnel through every wall of separation and division in this country use this history if this history matters then let us honor Dr. King George Elmore Ella Baker and Donald Wilson and use this history to secure, protect, and exercise every bloodstained right to vote in this country Dr. King said the time is right to do right we use this history and reflect in closing on Dr. King's last publication he was perplexed about where the future would go he was uncertain it was 1967 the book was entitled where do we go from here community or chaos that is the question these are his words he said many of the ugly pages of our past have been deliberately obscured and forgotten a society is always eager to cover up misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist right now our country owes a debt of justice it has only begun to pay if it loses the wheel to finish or slackens in its determination history will recall its crimes and the country the country that would be great will lack the most indispensable element of greatness and that is justice this is our history this is our story this is our legacy let's use it for when we all get together what a day of rejoicing it will be when we all shander Millwood Waverly the University of South Carolina the city of Columbia get together when we sit down by the banks of a creek in Valley Park we'll sing and shout the victory thank you very much such inspiring words encouraging words let's give Dr. Donelson another round of applause come on you can do better than that you can do better than that in the absence of the chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Foundation Committee Henry Baskins could not be here today so I'm going to take a moment to provide some acknowledgments I'm certainly not going to speak because it's hard to speak after such an amazing speaker so it's not nothing that I can say to follow those words but I want to take just a moment to acknowledge in his absence Mayor Steve Benjamin for his leadership and support for the city of Columbia he has done awesome work in the city and we're grateful for the work that has been done and the work that will be done again we want to thank our city council who is with us today as mayor Benjamin Benjamin and knowledge earlier today we have Mayor Pro Tem Tamika Isaac Devine with us on today with you mind standing please ma'am we have councilman Sam Davis with us today we have councilman Will Brennan present with us today thank you so much for being here councilman Howard DeVall who is with us today councilman Daniel Rickerman present with us today as well councilman Ed McDowell thank y'all so much for your presence on today special thanks to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr foundation committee all those who work on the committee as you see in your program the names are listed but I would like for them to stand and be recognized at this moment all those who are part of the Dr. Martin Luther King foundation committee please stand if you're standing already raise your hands to be acknowledged thank you thank you so much this is something I'm in the back a lot of hard work was put into this program so we want to acknowledge them as well again a special thanks to Dr. Donaldson who has served over 20 years at the University of South Carolina representing us well thank you so much again for being here today we also want to recognize our emcee for this hour Whitney Sullivan thank you so much for your presence on today and all that you have done for us today I just want to again say thank you to everyone who has participated in this program there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that you may not see but we recognize you as well so thank you so much for your commitment and your passion to make this happen and for it to be done out of a spirit of excellence so thank you so much again to all who participated on the back of your program there is words to a song and I'm going to ask everyone to stand I am not a singer at all so I will need my wife is here today and she knows that she's laughing I need your help on this song I would ask that we all begin it together thank you so much I do want to take a moment to acknowledge some reps from a little warrants campaign I believe Leslie back is here with us today He's chef Payston Paige Dingroom and Tracy Cordo is here with us today we want to acknowledge their presence on today let's give them a hand for being with us on today as well at this moment we'll receive and we'll give some direction on refreshments you stand you're not standing as we pray and receive the benediction while we thank you for being with us throughout this celebration your presence has been in this place since the beginning and for that we're grateful Lord as we leave this place let us put into practice what we have heard and learned today help us Lord God to make a difference in the lives of others in the community and in this world now we ask that this food that has been prepared blessed so it may be used to nourish to strengthen our bodies as your word nourish and strengthen our soul in his name we give thanks and we pray amen