75 cents
THE
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C
THURSDAY, December 17, 2020
Volume 47, Number 14
WI
W?eL
Nonprofit brings Christmas joy
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
The holiday season can
be a tough time for a family
when funds are tight. CO-
VID-19 has placed many
Forsyth County residents
in this trying predicament.
But thanks to Rasheeda
Shankle and Honorable
Youth Inc. (HYI), some
struggling families will
have something to smile
about Christmas morning.
On Saturday, Dec. 12,
HYI held a drive- through
Christmas toy drive to col
lect as many toys as pos
sible to distribute to needy
families. They also dis
tributed donated toys to
children enrolled in their
Angel Tree Program.
“Today we are just try
ing to bring a little Christ
mas joy to the city of Win
ston-Salem, considering
everything that is going on
with the pandemic,” said
Shankle.
HYI is a nonprofit
that works with area
youth and parents to help
them achieve intergenera-
tional economic security.
Shankle, executive direc
tor of HYI, says they also
do a lot of financial lit
eracy workshops with the
families to assist them in
becoming financially sta
ble.
The idea for the angel
tree came to Shankle out
of sheer need. While com
municating with the fami
lies involved with her non-
profit, one of their biggest
fears was not being able to
provide anything to their
children for Christmas.
Shankle and her team then
jumped into action.
“During the pandemic,
we have been providing
rent and utilities assis
tance for our parents and
what we did was we sent
out an email asking how
Submitted photos
A mother and her young daughter pick up their toys from the toy drive.
Honorable Youth Inc. provided toys for 30 families this holiday season.
they were doing during
the holiday season and all
of our families weren’t re
ally able to do anything
for their kids this year,”
Shankle said. “So, we got
an angle tree and collected
donations and we were
able to get gifts for 30 of
our families.”
Shankle is glad to be
able to provide assistance
to those in their time of
need.
“It’s going to be awe
some just to see them
smile,” she said. “We visit
ed some families and took
food boxes to them and
since many people have
been in bad spirits, we are
excited to see the joy it’s
going to bring to the kids.”
The pandemic has im
pacted us all in some way.
For the families connected
with HYI, the impact has
been devastating.
“A lot of our families
couldn’t even pay rent,”
she continued. “By the
grace of God, we were
able to receive grant fund
ing from the Winston-Sa
lem Foundation and with
that we were able to take
some of the financial bur
den off of those families,
but it wasn’t a lot.
“We still have families
right now that can’t pay
utility bills for this upcom
ing month, because they
still are out of work.”
According to Shankle,
the HYI is working on
expanding their career
development program to
assist the parents in their
program with obtaining
essential jobs. They are
also looking to get into af
fordable housing because
that is also a need for their
families.
Shankle says the posi
tive messages she receives
from the families she as
sists fuels her to continue
to do more.
“To be able to be a
support system for them
is just amazing,” she said.
“Everyone has been very
thankful and grateful for
the services we have pro
vided.”
Local Ministers’ Conference preparing for the future
‘Praying will not be the last resort anymore.’
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Although there are few
weeks left in 2020, the
Ministers’ Conference of
Winston-Salem and Vicin
ity (MCWSV) is already
laying the groundwork for
2021. At the end of each
term the president of the
Minsters’ Conference is
required to provide a re
port looking back at some
of the accomplishments of
the organization, and on
Tuesday, Dec. 15, Pastor
Tembila Covington gave
her report and discussed
the future of the organiza
tion.
Covington, who will
be serving her second term
as president, is the founder
and senior pastor of Cross
ing Red Sea Ministries in
Rockingham, N.C. In her
first term Covington said
her focus was to build
unity and strengthen col
laborations with the com-
munity.
“Coming in I shared
that I hoped that we
worked together as a uni
fied front and I said that
envisioned faith leaders
engaged in friendly and
productive associations,
collaborating and working
together,” Covington said.
And in her second term
she’s looking to build on
that success.
Under her leader
ship, along with a host of
other accomplishments,
the Ministers’ Conference
helped raise more than
$28,000 in scholarships
for local students, estab
lished the Julius Sampson
scholarship, partnered
with local organizations
on the #BLM street mural,
hosted voter registration
drives, community prayer
events, established com
munity gardens, and much
more. The Conference also
gained its highest number
of paid members in nearly
a decade.
Moving forward, Cov
ington said, “I envision
faith leaders, laypersons,
and people of all age
groups working together
engaged in productive col
laborations and harnessing
resources. ... strengthen
ing relationships, commu
nication, and partnerships
with local, state, and na
tional agencies, commu
nity stakeholders and non-
profits.”
Covington also dis
cussed a ‘three-tiered ap
proach’ to reaching their
goal that is guided by faith.
She said as faith leaders,
the conference has to re
member to put God first.
“We have gone through
some trying times in 2020
with this pandemic and
one thing it has made me
to realize is that we need
to remember as faith lead
ers to put God first,” she
continued. “This is not
a political organization,
it is about justice. It is
about faith and we need
to ensure we’re putting
all of our efforts, our out
reach, our missions, our
events on the forefront as
faith leaders to make sure
we’re always representing
the type of organization
that we are. ... What does
that mean? More teach
ing, more preaching, more
theological reflections.
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