A program of

Contact: Kristy Aurand
Tel: 717.917.1722
Email: kaurand@caplanc.org

 

2021 MLK BREAKFAST THEME & SPEAKER ANNOUNCED

33rd ANNUAL FUNDRAISER TO BE HELD AS A LIVE, VIRTUAL EVENT JANUARY 18, 2021

 

Lancaster, Pa. – The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Breakfast, a fundraising event for the Crispus Attucks Community Center, enjoys a long tradition in Lancaster County. Each year 700+ community leaders gather to honor Dr. King’s legacy through performances, community awards, and a keynote speech. This year, due to COVID-19, the breakfast will look quite different. The 33rd annual event will be held Monday, Jan. 18, from 9 to 10 a.m. in a live, virtual format.

This year’s theme – Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? – takes its name from Dr. King’s final book and will feature a keynote by Heather McGhee. McGhee, 40, is a distinguished senior fellow at Demos, a public policy think tank devoted to creating a democracy and economy rooted in racial equity. During a live C-SPAN appearance in 2016 in which McGhee was discussing the upcoming presidential election, “Garry from North Carolina” called in and said, “I’m a white male, and I am prejudiced.” He went on to explain his prejudices came, in part, from reading about young Black men engaged in crime to get money for drugs. “What can I do to change? To be a better American?” Garry asked McGhee.

McGhee paused, thanked Garry, and made several recommendations on how he could begin to overcome his prejudice. This conversation went viral and has been viewed more than 8 million times online. Shortly following McGhee’s exchange with Garry, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz asked her to advise the company as it designed anti-bias training for 175,000 employees in the wake of the unjust arrest of two Black men in a Philadelphia store. McGhee co-authored a report with recommendations for how Starbucks could apply a racial equity lens to their business, and about how other companies both large and small can benefit from doing the same thing.

McGhee holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Civic Participation and serves on multiple boards of trustees, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Indivisible. Her first book, “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,” will be published in February 2021. As racism, police brutality and decades of inequity facing people of color are causing protests and renewed calls nationwide for racial justice, McGhee’s timely keynote will discuss how we can create a more just and equitable community.

Ron Ford is this year’s honorary event chair. Ford was the first African American elected to Lancaster City Council, the first African American elected President of Lancaster City Council, and the first and only African American elected as a Lancaster County Commissioner to date.

The volunteer MLK Breakfast Committee is made up of the following individuals:

• Barbara Huesken, community volunteer – past chair
• Dr. Damaris Rau, School District of Lancaster – past chair
• Adam Aurand, School District of Lancaster
• Kristy Aurand, Community Action Partnership
• AJ Eckman, Lancaster Recreation Commission
• Kimberly Fletcher, HDC MidAtlantic
• Darryl Gordon, The High Companies
• Dr. Leroy Hopkins, Millersville University
• Joshua Hunter, Community Action Partnership
• Howard Jones, community volunteer
• Willonda McCloud, Brightside Opportunities Center
• Brittany Mitchell, Community Action Partnership
• Brian Nguyen, Community Action Partnership
• Nakiyah Parris, WGAL-TV
• Arelis Perez, Community Action Partnership
• Vanessa Philbert, Community Action Partnership
• Ismail Smith-Wade-El, Lancaster County Homeless Coalition/Lancaster City Council
• Lydia Yeager, Millersville University

The virtual event will be emceed by Danielle Woods, WGAL-TV, and is Crispus Attucks’ largest fundraiser of the year. Sponsorships are currently available and benefit the important work of the community center. For sponsorship information, please contact Kristy Aurand, kaurand@caplanc.org, or 717.299.7388 ext.3032.

Tickets are on sale now at www.caplanc.org/MLK or by contacting Brittany Mitchell, bmitchell@caplanc.org or 717.299.7388 ext. 3099.

McGhee’s book is available for pre-order at these links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Crispus Attucks Community Center

Since 1927, the Crispus Attucks Community Center (CACC) has been an anchor in Southeast Lancaster City. CACC takes immense pride in its mission to improve the quality of life for youth and families in Lancaster by providing services that promote community prosperity, physical and mental health, and by offering programs and cultural events which preserve and celebrate the African American heritage.

About Community Action Partnership

The Community Action Partnership is Lancaster County’s largest anti-poverty organization, helping low income families move toward economic empowerment. CAP’s service profile interrupts generational poverty with programs that support families and individuals at every age and place in life, in the areas of education and child development, health and nutrition, household stability and safety and empowerment. For more information, visit www.caplanc.org.

###