New energy from the old school
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 7, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Men of Faith, Integrity and Character members Sam Platt, left, Ross Ammons, center, and Vernon Lee paint the trim in one of the classrooms at the Henrietta Williams Wing of the Carver Cultural Center. Men of FIC will hold a fundraising dinner this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the center to support their efforts to renovate classrooms at the old school.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Sam Platt, one of the founders of the Men of Faith, Integrity and Character, does some trim work in one of the old classrooms in the Henrietta Williams Wing at the Carver Cultural Center.
MOUNT OLIVE -- Henrietta Highsmith Williams, who died in 2004 at the age of 107, left a legacy of community service.
It is a legacy that members of the Men of Faith, Integrity and Character say they are committed to living up to as they work to renovate the Henrietta Williams Wing at the Carver Cultural Center.
"What we are about is what Mrs. Henrietta was about -- service," Men of FIC President Al Southerland said. "Once we get the building like we want it, and that she and her family will be proud of, we will dedicate it again. We are just going to use this as a a service building, just doing what we can. She stood for what we stand for.
"Of course we need money to make this building look what we want it to look like. We are having a big fundraiser out here in front of the buildings on the 10th. We are going to be doing chicken, barbecue, fish. We will probably have some hot dogs or whatever. People can come and buy something, drop a donation in -- whatever way. Every dime that we get from somebody, we do all we can to put it back into the community."
The fundraiser will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.
The cost is $7 per plate that will include a meat, a couple of sides, bread and piece of cake, Southerland said.
No tickets are being sold in advance.
All proceeds will be used by Men of FIC for upkeep of the building and community projects.
Work on the old flattop building started back in March with repairs to the roof.
Men of FIC members were busy last Thursday scraping the floor and painting the walls in one of the old classrooms.
"That first room in there, it was full of, I won't say mold, but moisture had gotten in there," Southerland said. "We had to redo the walls. Now we are repainting the walls. We are trying to do all of the painting there. We are getting ready today to start doing the floors.
"That is the room that will be more or less where we will do, I won't say our office, but when we want to do some briefings to the public or anything like that we will do most of that in there."
One of the first ides for the room is what the group is tentatively calling "Opportunity Saturday."
"About twice a month on Saturday we will let people come in here and have business opportunities, or just something that they would like to get out to the public," Southerland said. "They can come and do that. We want to be, for a lack of a better term, a reference point. Anytime anybody needs anything, whatever it is, they can give us a call. We can help them or direct them to the right place.
"We also have talked to Wayne Community College already, to collaborate with them to bring programs in here that are going to help our young people -- help all of our people, but young people especially. We will be helping some on how to get a job, how to prepare for a job and how to keep it. I did a little bit in my school teaching career, I was a career management specialist so I can teach them a little bit about how to fill out an application, how to dress, how to talk at an interview. That is one of the main things that we want to try to help people become employable."
The plan is to renovate all of the rooms in the wing.
Southerland said he thinks one of the rooms had last been used for industrial arts.
"We have a couple of members of the organization who are in the carpentry business and things like that," he said. "We are going to try to get them to where they can show guys enough to where they can at least be an apprentice or helper."
Up next is the room across the hall from the one just completed.
"That is going to be like our education room," he said. "We are going to have a supply of book supplies."
People will be able to call or stop by and Men of FIC members will help them pick out what they need, Southerland said.
"Right now we are just trying to get this building right," he said. "If somebody needs help, we will try to address that and that need. That is what we are about. We just need a place we can come, we can meet and store stuff.
"We are going to be partnering with First Baptist (Church) on their Warm the World (coat giveaway) they have in November. This will be one of the drop-off points. We just need to get it right because the sooner we can get it together, the sooner we can do the programs that we need to do."
Donations can be mailed to Men of FIC, P.O. Box 1066, Mount Olive, N.C., 28365
For more information, call Southerland at 919-394-0198 or Sam Platt 919-634-7765.
The Men of FIC currently meet at North East Chapel Original Free Will Baptist Church on East James Street. Those meetings will move to the Carver Cultural Center in October.
The meetings start at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month in the quarter.
The first meeting, which will be Oct. 1, is a planning session. The second is normally a fundraiser or activity, and the third is a prayer breakfast that is held at different churches in the area.