Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / April 30, 1987, edition 1 / Page 7
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Thursday, April 30,1987 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page 7A R iser: Not Just A Walk In The Park By Cassandra Lawton Post Staff Writer Rita Arundell says the senior citizens of today aren't like the senior citizens of yesterday. She •fcye not only are they living longer, they are living more ac tive lives. Several dozen seniors will put on their walking shoes Sunday, May 8 to prove it. They'll be in Marshall Park at 2 p.m. to take part in a fund-raising effort called Sunday for Seniors. It’s sponsored by Charlotte Mecklenburg Senior Centers Inc., the private non-profit agen cy that runs the city's three cen ters. Based at the T^iora W. McElroy Senior Center, at 426 N. Tryon St. in Hall House, Arundell has been executive director of the agency since 1984 . She helped organize the Sunday walk. "We encourage seniors to stay well, to exercise and eat well," Arundell said. "We want to show that seniors are active. Years ago, I think you had a vi sion of people sitting in rocking, chairs. Older people are more ac tive now.” Arundell hopes to get at least 500 people participating Sunday. She said several church and community groups will have teams in the walk. Some corpora tions have been asked to-pledge money and her goal is to get at least $10,000 collected. Even though the centers get money from the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, the United Way and the state, there are fund drives sponsored by Senior Cen ters Inc. twice a year. "Programs are expensive and Senior citizens take part in the fitness craze by working out at the Friendship Community Center located on Beatties Ford Road. we're trying to show that we can pull our own weight," Arundell said. Money from the walk will be used to buy equipment and fund programs at the centers. There are classes each quarter in areas ranging from oil paint ing to sewing to ballroom danc ing. Members of Senior Centers Inc. pay a fee once per year and can take many classes free or at a low cost. So can some non members, Arundell said. But sometimes keeping costs low for seniors means the agency has to put out more of its money to pay instructors, rent space for classes and provide equipment for the agency. Still, Arundell said her main concern is keeping seniors as ac tive as they want to be . At every center, the exercise classes always have the most stu dents. "The seniors we deal with are between the ages of 60 and 82," she said. "We have five or six fitness classes and that's the most popu lar thing we do." Arundell said a computer might be the first purchase made with money raised at the Sunday walk, but not for the computer classes offered. It's needed to help store information about agency programs and the growing num ber of people involved in them. The agency also offers health screenings, information about housing, medicare and medic aid, an employment service that includes on-the-job training, as well as lectures and travelogues. Recently, after a five week training session at Presbyterian Hospital, 11 seniors got part-time jobs making beds and helping to care for patients. Arundell hopes the Sunday walk, which is co-sponsored by the Charlotte Parks and Recrea tion Department and Gaskin Eye Clinic, will become the third an nual fund-raiser for Senior Cen ters Inc. Participants will start at the fountain in Marshall Park and choose a one, two or three mile route. The one-mile route goes up Second Street, over to Brevard and back to McDowell. The two mile route stretches to Fourth and Tryon Streets. Ths three-mile route takes walkers to Fourth Ward Park and back. Senior Centers Inc. began oper ating its newest center in April, at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Beatties Ford Road. There is another center at the Albemarle Road Recreation Cen ter, 5027 N. Idlewild Road. McEl roy was the city's first senior cen t e r . Johnny Meeks does knee-pulls in a recent session. Dr. Dorothy I. Height (center), Bill Cosby (right), and Mayor Tom Bradley (left) hosted a press conference at Los Angeles City Hall to Announce plana for the 1987 Black Family Re union Celebration. NCNW's Plan To Benefit Black Families The Black Family Reunion Cel ebration, a successful event that drew over 200,000 people to the National Mall in Washington, DC, last September, will be expanded into a multi-city national program this ysar, it was announced by Dorothy I. Height, president of the National Council of Negro Wom en. The Black Family Reunion Cel ebration was created by the Na tional Negro Council of Negro Women last year for a three-fold purpose: to build upon the tradi tional, historical and cultural strengths of the black family; to fk dilute self-help solutions to the is sues of teen pregnancy, drug abuse, unemployment, education and health as they impact the black family; and lastly, to create an umbrella by which govern ment, public and private institu tions, corporations, community based organisations and the media could work together on family oriented issues. In addition to tho aoeond nation id ovont oot for Washington, DC, tm Soptombor 11-18, Black Family Rounion Colobrationo will bo hold in Atlanta on Juno 18, Loo Angola* on July 25, and Dotroit on Auguat 22. Tho aummor-long activitioo will bo klckod off by a national ra diothon on Mother'! Day (May union Celebration sent a clear sig 10) over most black radio stations, produced by the Sheridan Broad casting Network. Gala benefit con certs ere also planned in cotyunc tion with the Los Angeles and Washington dates. In common with last year's event, the four-city family festival will feature a multitude of pro gram activities free of charge and open to the entire community. Among the participants last year in various speeches, workshops and exhibitions wars Coretta Scott King, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Alex Halley, Lerone Bennett, Dick Ore gory, Arthur Ashe, Rep. Walter Fauntroy, the Marsalis Family, among many others. Free con certs were given by the O'Jaya and Lou Rawls. Free dental and medical checks, storytelling, con sumer product sampling, rap and theatre group performances, workshops on traditional family crafts and octogenarian eecreta of longevity, and resource develop ment counseling on a number of issues were among the most popu lar activities. The response of families of all compositions and from all walks of life to the first Black Family Re nal of the need to build upon the family's strengths," according to Dr. Dorothy I. Height. "It went far beyond the significance of a single event in terms of helping to place in focus the resources we have at hand to tackle the issues affecting black family life today. This year, the aim is to broaden this impact on a nationwide scale, providing a ground on which the hopes and aspirations of every member of the black family can be lifted." Major funding for the Black Family Reunion Celebration has been provided by the Procter Ac Gamble Company, with additional support from the Anheuser-Busch Companies, CBS Records, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, among many others. 171* National Council of Negro Women serve* aa a clearing house for thj activities of four million women, who are reached through its Si affiliated member national organisations and its 200 char tered community-based sections. NCNW women come from all walks of life and all economic, cul tural and educational back grounds. Since it was founded in 1035 by legendary educator and human rights activist Mary McLe od Bethune, the NCNW has worked tirelessly on behalf of black women and families. African Connection In Charlotte Africa conjures up every kind of image in the minds of most peo ple--famine, AIDS, slavery, wild animals, "jungle," South Africa, poverty, "native" dancers and drummers, and mud huts. Unfor tunately, there is very little media coverage about all of the new ho tels, office buildings, medical dis coveries and university course of ferings which also occur daily on this great continent. Sherry A. Suttles, co-author with her sister of "Fielding's Afri ca: South of the Sahara," has re cently launched African Connec tion in Charlotte as a means to help dispel some of the myths and misinformation concerning the homeland and some 30 million black Americans. Through spon Su tiles sored and re ferral tours, a newsletter, and cultural pro grams, African Connection aims to educate and inform people about the changing dynamics of the 50+ coun tries that com prise a continent which is second largest to Asia in land mass and third largest to Asia and Europe in population. In 1987 four exciting trips are scheduled as follows: The Gambia in July for their first annual ROOTS festival, Kenya in Octo ber for a safari venture, Zambia/ Zimbabwe in October to experi ence a safari, ancient ruins, and Victoria Falls, and Togo for a De cember Holiday Vacation. There is a savings plan availa ble for those who want to begin planning for a future trip and fund raising ideas and assistance is also a service. Also, as a means to enlighten prospective travelers as well as to entertain those who may never actually visit, African Connection sponsors fashion shows, dinner programs, musical productions, and the like. Africa is a fun place to visitl -discos, casinos, golf, tennis, swim See African on Page 9A DELTA'S PLAN WOMEN’S CONFERENCE IN CARIBBEAN ■ Dr. Batto Dlokaraon, raaaaroh and davalopmant analyst of Doha Sigma Tha ta'a Raaaaroh and Ednaatlonal Foundation! Mra. Lynnatta Taylor, vioa ehalr, "Woman to Womani Bingla Parontlng from A Global Par* apaotlva," a oonfaranoa aponaorad by Dalta and ita foundation in Nassau this summar; Dr. Marealia Patarson, Dalta axacutlva dlraotor; and Ella McNair, Dalta program dlraotor, plan Nassau moating. All ara Dalta national offlca staff in Washington, DC, axoapt Mrs. Taylor, a Dalta voluntaar, of Alexandria, VA. Tha group mat at Dalta national haadquartars. Delta s Meet On Single Parenting Washington, DO - "Woman to Woman: Singla Parsnting from a Global Psrspactlva,"an interna tional woman's confsrsncs spon sorsd by Dslte Sigma Thata So rority, Inc., will ba hold Juns 22-29 in Nassau, Bahamas, Dalta Na tional Prssidant Hortenss G. Ca nary, of Lansing, MI, announead rsosntly. • Tha confsrsncs will ba hald in the Ambassador Beach and Nas sau Bsach Hotels, shs said, and soma 400 confsrsss ars sxpected to attand. It will ba co-sponaorad by tha Delta Educational and Re search Foundation, Qaraldine P. Woods, of Los Angales, president. The conference, said Lynnette Taylor, chair, Delta's National Program Planning and Imple mentation Committee, grew out of ti ' i Delta's longtime concern for blacjc mothers in this country. 8hs la conference vice chair along with Dr. Bernadine Denning of Detroit, chair of Delta's Social Action Com mission. In 1984, Mrs. Canady issued a call to Delta chapters and otheN for Summit II: In Support of BlacV See Delta on Page BA
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 30, 1987, edition 1
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