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Fourteen years ago, Shirley Woods had no idea that the neighborhood project in her backyard would be the reason the daughter of two of the nation’s most famous civil rights activists would be in Fort Wayne.
Woods called Thursday a milestone not only for herself but also for the Euell A. Wilson Center as guests welcomed Bernice King, daughter of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr., to the center’s first benefit.
The banquet room of Memorial Coliseum was packed with anxious attendees.
Woods herself was relieved. She had been working to get Bernice King to speak at a Wilson Center event for almost three years but had been unsuccessful until this year. She credits the power of prayer for King’s presence.
The crowd drawn by King would enable the center to raise funds to support the organization, which provides afternoon activities for children in kindergarten through high school.
But the main goal, she said, was to inspire love in the community.
“Fort Wayne has healthy children,” she said. “But they could be healthier. We try to give strength to the lives of children by showing Christ’s love, because love is not just a word, it’s an action word.”
As Woods addressed the crowd she received the first standing ovation of the night. King received the second.
As the woman – who bore a striking resemblance to the man famous for his “I have a dream speech” – took the stage, she began to deliver a message identical to Woods’ mission.
“I am the woman I am today because my mother and father exemplified Christ,” King said of her famous parents. “I never heard my mother speak negatively about anyone because not only did she talk the talk, she walked her talk.”
King’s message to the crowd of hundreds was simple: Be a better person and a better parent.
“We are so busy making a living that we are not making a life for our children,” she said. “If it is not our responsibility to reach out to the children who have been left behind then whose responsibility is it? If not you, then who?”
Dave Kolpien, chairman of the board for the Wilson Center, saw not only the opportunity for inspiration that King’s message provided but the chance to recognize the need for the center and its activities.
“It is a big and beautiful thing just to understand the good that is going on in our community,” he said. “We have good kids, kids that have come so far in life because someone dared to care about them.”
The center cares for more than 100 children a day in youth ministry and outreach programs, dance and music classes, computer skills lessons and other recreational activities.
Proceeds from Thursday’s benefit will be used to finance the operation and put the center one step closer to its goal of building a new gymnasium and recreation center, Kolpien said, which will be used to improve the programs the center offers.
It also will help the center establish short-term goals like establishing a college scholarship program, providing updated computer technology and helping fulfill maintenance needs.
For Woods, simply having a benefit for the center is still unbelievable, let alone one featuring Bernice King.
“It is just staggering to me to get someone of her caliber to speak here,” she said. “The things this could do to inspire the community could be astounding. This will help us all realize that we need to put our children first.”
atownsend@jg.net
