Community
Paqe 8 Your stories, your voices JulY 21
We Are Family
Community
Calendar
Atkins reunion
Atkins High School Class of
1958 will celebrate their 50th
reunion at the Marriott Hotel. On
July 11 starting at 6 pjn., there
will be registration and mix and
mingle. On July 12, events will
include class pictures and a ban
quet; on July 13, there will be a
worship service at 10:30 a.m. at
United Metropolitan Missionary
Baptist Church and a picnic at 4
p.m. at Triad Park in
Kemersville. For further informa
tion, contact Ernest Goodman at
336-926-8851.
Blood drive
Ja Van Durham, a candidate
for Eagle Scout, needs your sup
port by donating blood on July 12
at American Red Cross, Triad
Blood Center, 650 Coliseum Dr.
For additional information, call
336-767-9132.
Black Chamber meeting
The Winston Salem Black
Chamber of Commerce will meet
Tuesday, July 15 at 7 pm. at the
Hewitt Business Center, 1001 S.
Marshall St.
Majorie Rorie of the Truliant
Credit Union will give an
overview of the financial seminar
being offered to the community
by the credit union. Tun Oakes of
CarFinder will be the business
spodight. For additional informa
tion contact. Randon Pender at
336-575-2006, or visit
ww w. wsbcc .org
Mo Lucas Step Team fundrais
er
The First Annual Mo Lucas
Step Team Yard Sale, Car Wash
and Fish Fry will be Saturday,
July 12 from 8 am. to 1 p.m. in
the parking lot of the Bojangles
off of Patterson Avenue, 317 East
33rd St. Car washes are $6, and
$10 for vans, tiucks and SUVs.
Fish plates are $6. All proceeds
will benefit the activities of the
step team. For more informati?>n,
call Michelle Chisom, fundraiser
coordinator, at 336-201-3X18
Yard Sale
Sethos Court #105 Daughters
of Isi.s will hold a yard sale on July
12 from 7 a.m. - 12 pm. at the
Grenadier Club, 2511 Old
Greensboro Road. Raffle tickets
for a chance to win two tickets to
WSSU's Homecoming game on
Oct. 25 will be available at the
sale.
NARFK picnic
w
The National Active and
Retired Federal Employees
Association (NARFE) will hold
its annual Independence Day pic
nic on July 11 at Miller Park,
Shelter 01, starting at 11:30 a.m.
The meeting is open to current
and retired federal employees. For
more information, call 336-721
1783.
Family reunion
The descendants of John
Wesley and Lucinda B. Pledger
will be celebrating their 70th fam
ily reunion on Saturday, July 12
from 5-9 pm. at Brown and
Douglas Neighborhood
Recreation Center, 4725 Indiana
Ave. All family members and
friends are invited. For more
information, call Willie Downs at
336-788-4355 or Charlotte B.
Vincent at 336- 924-5038
City's 'Sister'
program helps
Chinese quake
victims
BY TODD LUCK v
THE CHRONICLE
While others were firing
up their grills, a group of local
people were getting fired up
about helping victims of the
earthquakes that recently
struck China.
The Winston-Salem Sister
Cities program was behind the
Fourth of July fundraiser,
which was held at the down
town World Exchange gallery.
Sister Cities is a cultural
exchange program. The city
has four sister cities, includ
ing the Yangpu district of
Shanghai, the largest city in
China.
Shanghai escaped the
quake; other parts of the of
the country were not as fortu
nate. The May 12 quake killed
more than 69,000 people and
injured more than 370,000 in
China's Sichuan Province.
Items that originated in
Shanghai, and the city's other
sister cities (Ungheni,
Moldova; Nassau. Bahamas;
and Kumasi, Ghana) are sold
at World Exchange. For last
week's fundraiser, shoppers
and supporters were asked to
make contributions to the
quake relief effort as well.
The dollars collected went to
the Yangpu Foreign Affairs
Department, which will dis
tribute it to those in need.
David Van Pelt - chairman
of the Sister Cities board -
said that Independence Day
seemed like a good time to
start the fundraiser, which
will continue for the next two
months.
"We thought that being the
Fourth pf July, this would be a
great time to try and do some
thing for someone else," said
Van Pelt.
No hot dogs or hamburg
ers were at this gathering.
Fittingly, there was Chinese
food donated by Downtown
Thai and Hong Kong King
Buffet.
The colorful art on the
walls provided a lovely back
drop.
Mei Xiang, a native of
China, volunteers at World
Exchange, which is located
at 420 N. Cherry St. Xiang's
family and friends in China
where fortunate enough to
live far from the quake area.
She said she was very pleased
to see how much love people
were showing those in her
native land.
Kimberly Clark, who
helped plan the reception,
joined the Sister City's board
this year as a way to become
involved globally. She says
reaching out beyond this
nation's borders in an impor
tant part of that.
"I like to tell people I have
a sister and if something hap
pened to her, of course what
ever I could give, I'd help her
See Fundraiser on Bll
Sister Cities Board Chairman David Van Pelt.
Mei Xiang is a native of China.
Board member Kimberly Clark showed her support.
Left: A guest
enjoys some of
the Chinese food
that was donated
for the event.
Below: The
World Exchange
is located inside
the Embassy
Suites complex
in downtown
Winston-Salem.
V