Photo by Tfcvia Stinson
Hazel Mack speaks during her retirement celebration program held at The Delta
Fine Arts Center on Friday, Feb. 19. Earlier this month Mack announced she
will be stepping down from her position as the regional managing attorney for
Legal Aid of N.C.
1
Executive director of Legal Aid of N.C. George L. Hausen addresses the crowd
at the retirement celebration program for Hazel Mack on Friday, Feb. 19 at The
Delta Fine Arts Center.
Hazel Mack to continue working for underservecf
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
After 35 years of service with Legal
Aid of North Carolina (LANC), Hazel
Mack announced earlier this month that
she will be retiring.
LANC is a statewide nonprofit that
provides free legal services in civil matters
to low-income people in order to ensure
equal access to justice and to remove legal
barriers to economic opportunity.
Although she is stepping down from
her position as regional managing attorney.
Mack said she will continue to serve the
underprivileged in the community.
"I have a passion for addressing the
needs of the underserved in our communi
ty," she said. "That is something I will
always do; it's a part of me."
Well before she decided to begin study
ing law, Mack dedicated her life to making
a difference in the lives of the less fortu
nate. At the young age of 17 Mack, got
involved in the Civil Rights Movement by
joining the Winston-Salem Chapter of the
Black Panther Party, which was responsi
ble for a number of programs, such as a
free breakfast program, free clothing pro
gram and a free ambulance program.
As years passed, Mack continued to
find other ways to empower the communi
ty. In fall of J 996 with the help of a group
of determined people in Forsyth County,
Mack opened Carter G. Woodson School.
As a public charter school, Carter G.
Woodson adheres to basic curriculum
requirements of the state but has several
advantages, such as new and innovative
approaches to improve on standard educa
tion practices.
Everyone who knows Mack says that
the school is her pride and joy. When asked
why she decided to open a school she said,
"I'm a firm believer that education ^is a
major key to overcoming poverty.
"It's a myth that you can work yourself
out of poverty, it's not possible," she con
tinued. "Education is one of the ways that
can leap you out of poverty."
During a reception honoring Mack on
Friday, Feb. 19 at the Delta Fine Arts
Center, many of Mack's colleagues, family
members, and former clients thanked her
for all that she has done over the years.
LANC Executive Director George L.
Hausen said not only has Mack made a
major impact on the community, she has
also inspired others to do so as well.
"She has been inspiring to so many
people," said Hausen. "For more than 30
years she has been incredible."
During a sit-down with The Chronicle,
Mack said she will never really fully retire
because she has to. feed her passion for
helping others. Along with working on a
new business, Mack said she will continue
to work with the students and faculty and
Carter G. Woodson.
"I will continue to do what I believe I
was put on this earth to do and that is serve
the less fortunate and work to improve
their quality of life."
New WSSU food
pantry called
'blessing'
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem State
University opened a food
pantry for food insecure
students in partnership with
Food Lion on Thursday,
Feb 18.
WSSU Chancellor
Elwood Robinson said that
the WSSU Rams Helping
Hands Pantry is part of the
university's "equity mind
Mi" approach of taking stu
dents where they are and
providing the resources to
help them succeed.
"I think there's a mis
conception about college
students," he said. "People
think that if you have the
resources to be able to go to
college, you have all your
basic needs met. That's
simply not the case. A col
lege campus is a micro
cosm of our community
and so we have a cross sec
tion of people with a vari
ety of needs when they
rrnmp.
He said every college
and university has students
who are food insecure.
According to its website,
the College and University
Food Bank Alliance has
271 active member institu
tions across the country
with food pantries for food
insecure students.
Members in North Carolina
include UNC-Greensboro,
UNC-Charlotte, UNC
Chapel Hill and North
Carolina State University.
Food Lion Feeds, the
grocery chain's charitable
organization, stocked the
pantry's shelves full of
foods like canned vegeta
bles, rice, instant mashed
potatoes, cereal, oatmeal,
pasta, applesauce and pop
corn. It's part of Food
Wiggins
Dukes
Lion s longtime
sponsorship of the CIAA
Tournament, which is hap
pening this week.
"It's truly a blessing to
see how Food Lion has
partnered up with our
member institutions,"
CIAA Commissioner
Jacqie McWilliams said at
the opening event.
uunng reoruary or last
year, Food Lion opened
pantries at Johnson C.
Smith University in
Charlotte, which has served
420 students, and
Livingston College in
Salisbury, which served
100 students. Both are pri
vate, historically black
institutions that have much
smaller student bodies than
WSSU.
Aside from the college
food pantries. Food Lion
Feeds holds food drives for
30 food banks in the 10*
states the grocery chain
operates in.
"Right now with Food
Lion, that's one of our big
initiatives: to feed the hun
gry," said Food Lion's
Rondale Ratcliffe.
While Food Lion
initially stocked the
pantry, and WSSU
will have an opportu
nity to apply for it to
be restocked in a year,
students are looking
for partnerships with
other stores and eater
ies to ke*?n it ooino fill
-? ?r ?? o o ?
year. The pantry is a stu
dent-led initiative with 25
volunteers that have
already signed up to man
its day-to-day operations.
Students who need the
pantry's services will fill
out an online form. Those
who qualify based on
income will make an
appointment to come and
pick what items they want.
"They'll be able to
come in and receive five
items at least twice a
month," said Da'Cor
Wiggins, a recent WSSU
graduate who is involved
with the pantry.
He said student volun
teers will keep track of
what's taken from the
pantry and what needs to
be restocked. Students who
need the services more than
twice a month will need to
1 volunteer at the pantry for
at least one hour to be able
to use it again that month.
Asia Dukes, a junior, is
on the marketing commit
tee for the pantry. She said
she discovered that food
insecurity is a big issue on
wssunmo
CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams, Miss WSSU Dontia Yavonne Barrett,
WSSU Chancellor Dr. Elwood Robinson and Food Lion's Rondale Ratcliffe at
the ribbon cutting for the food pantry last week.
campus as part of her
internship as a food ambas
sador with the 10 Percent
Campaign, which tries to
get colleges and universi
ties to use local foods.
"We have a lot of stu
dents that, even though
they have meal plans or
even though they live off
campus, any little refund
check they have, they send
back home or they literally
live refund to refund, so
buying groceries can't be a
priority for them," she said.
Though residential stu
dents are required to have a
campus meal plan, some
times students can't make it
to the cafeteria during its
operating hours or don't
have enough meals on the
plan to make it through the
entire semester.
Commuting and non-tradi
tional students who face
food insecurity will also be
able to use the pantry.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest
H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing
Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C.
27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Annual subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
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The WSSU Department of Athletics is now accepting applications.
Nomination must be submitted by Friday, April 1,2016.
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