Community organizer to address ACTION’s eighth annual banquet

Staff report

youngstown

A promoter of community organizing will be the keynote speaker at ACTION’s eighth annual banquet 6 p.m. April 22 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church social hall, 343 Via Mount Carmel.

Dr. Ann E. Smith, president of the Chicago-based Gamaliel Foundation, will address the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods, a faith-based community organizing group.

Smith, whose academic career includes top leadership positions at the University of Illinois and Northeastern Illinois University, will speak on the theme “Building on the Past, Reaching Toward Our Future.”

Guests of honor at the event will include the Rev. Eleanor Felder, pastor of Holy Bible Church of God; Pat Rosenthal, executive director of Common Wealth, a nonprofit organization; and the Rev. Edward P. Noga, pastor of St. Patrick Church.

The three honorees will be recognized for their contributions to ACTION’s mission of revitalizing center-city neighborhoods.

The banquet is ACTION’s sole community fundraiser.

Tickets are $30 per person or $240 per table of eight people. All contributions are tax-deductible.

The Rev. Lewis W. Macklin, president of ACTION, said the banquet will help fund the organization’s efforts in the areas of crime and safety, health and wellness, unemployment and economic issues and immigration.

For more information, call minister Rose Carter at (330) 782-7433.