Town Talk

"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime."

-- Aristotle

FUNDRAISER

ONE HUNDRED BLACK Men of Chattanooga will host its 2011 Evening of Elegance on Nov. 19 at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center at 8 p.m.

Erskine Oglesby, the organization's president, said the event will raise funds and awareness to support the Life Academy for Young Men, the Young Men of Distinction and 100 Black Men of Chattanooga's college financial assistance program.

"The Life Academy and the Young Men of Distinction are programs designed to help young men achieve academic excellence and build strong individual character to compete in a multicultural and global society through mentoring, tutoring, leadership development and team building," said Antonio McMath, mentoring chairman.

Entertainment will be provided by Daybreakk Band. A buffet dinner will be provided by LeMont's Catering.

The 100 Black Men of Chattanooga, established in 1993 as the 25th chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, is an organization that focuses its efforts on nurturing black youth in urban communities to improve their quality of life and to provide opportunities to be successful citizens contributing to the world community, according to Oglesby, local chapter president.

The organization "seeks to serve as a beacon of leadership by utilizing our diverse talents to create environments where our children are motivated to achieve, and to empower people to become self-sufficient shareholders in the economic and social fabric of the communities we serve," Oglesby said.

The annual President's Award will be given to an outstanding member of the organization for their contribution to the mission and spirit of the organization, he said.

Tickets are $50. For more information, call 821-6700 or visit www.100bmchatt.org.

HEARD ON THE TOWN

THE SEMI-ANNUAL Belk Charity Sale is tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m. at the Belk stores at Hamilton Place and Northgate malls.

"The four-hour, in-store shopping event offers an excellent fundraising tool for participating organizations and an opportunity for customers to support local charities while taking advantage of special discounts on purchases during the event," said Lorena Cavanaugh, Belk special events coordinator.

Belk Charity Sale tickets are available to participating nonprofit organizations for sale in advance of the event. All proceeds from each $5 ticket sold will be retained by the local charity. There is no limit to the number of tickets charities can sell, or to the amount of money they can raise. Belk will provide tickets and informational materials at no cost to each participating organization.

Tickets also may be purchased at Belk stores with all revenues from in-store ticket sales equally divided among participating charities and schools, Cavanaugh said.

Tomorrow morning, the first 100 customers in each store will receive free Belk gift cards ranging in value from $5 to $100 and a chance to win one of three $1,000 Belk gift cards being awarded company-wide. Also, participating charities and schools will be registered to win one of three $1,000 donations from Belk in a company-wide drawing, Cavanaugh said.

"The sale is an amazing event that has not only benefits nonprofit groups in our own backyard but also offers savings for our customers that feels like a Christmas Eve sale, only better," she said.

TOASTS

CONGRATULATIONS TO Sharon Kelly and Chantelle Roberson, who will be honored by the Pearl Group/Omega Psi Phi next Thursday. The ladies will be honored during the Achievement Week Banquet at Second Missionary Baptist Church on East Third Street.

Tickets to the event, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., are $40 and will benefit the organization's mentoring and scholarship program. The banquet will feature guest speaker and former Chattanoogan Darrell S. Freeman, chairman and founder of Zycron, Inc. in Nashville.

For more information, call 821-2452.

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/karennazorhill.

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