There is a single concept that has been most notable to me throughout Charity Ball season. It is that Charity Ball is more than me.
30 minutes after school let out last Thursday I was leaning against the counter of the Raleigh Boys & Girls Club Teen Center planning the Oak City Poetry Jam fundraiser with Brianna, the High School Programs Professional. Every few minutes we’d pause discussion of food sponsors or performers as she greeted members signing in.
When Brandon, a student I met for the first time in a teacher’s classroom singing Gospel, walked in, I updated him on his performance at Space Jam, a fundraiser concert put on for Charity Ball.
After sign in, Brianna and I made our way to the library where we met Z, a culinary teacher sitting in the corner working on her computer, who upon hearing our conversation enthusiastically offered her free time to bake us sweets we could sell at the event.
That day I went home to an email from my boss in Wake Forest offering to open her restaurant after regular hours (we close at 3:30 pm), donate any desserts/lattes/coffees bought, market the cause, and have all profit go towards The Partnership.
On that day and every other day I’m shown that Charity Ball is more than me. It is more than the 75 kids on student council. It is more than Enloe High School. Charity Ball is us. It is our community. It’s the small businesses, grocery stores, temples, churches, and mosques. It is the relatives, local news channels and papers, and so much more.
I ask you to notice every single penny raised, every hour spent volunteering, and every inspired teen who never knew the impact they could have on their community. Notice the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised and the families and individuals whose lives were improved through, to name just a few, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Urban Ministries, and soon to be the Raleigh/Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness.
Notice all that and know that it is not because of one organization or a group of students and advisors. Know that it is because of us. And, I thank us for that. I thank us for having one purpose in mind–to better our community. I thank us for making the seemingly impossible possible.
Hannaneh Mirmozaffari
Executive Council Member