This past weekend, I had the honor of attending a great charity event at the Waterworks Lounge. The event was for the Philadelphia Academies, which is run by our own Lisa Nutter, Mayor Michael Nutter’s wife.
Philadelphia Academies, Inc. is a non-profit organization that expands life and economic options for Philadelphia public school students through career-focused programming that prepares them for employment and post-secondary education. They connect positive adults to future goals of young people.
I had the pleasure of meeting some very inspirational people at the party, including fashion designer Nicole Miller, ?uestlove, Tony Danza, some big names in Philly’s business sector, and Mr. Philadelphia himself, Mayor Michael Nutter. The event held a silent auction along with a live auction, which made a big chunk of change for the Academies. I was truly inspired by the perseverance and dedication of some of the kids that I talked to. The drive that these kids had was beyond amazing. There were two awards given away that evening, which are the following:
Pay It Forward – Rubby Canela, a 2007 graduate of the Urban Education Academy at Parkway West High School, is this year’s Pay It Forward Awardee. This scholarship highlights an outstanding Philadelphia Academies, Inc. graduate who has overcome significant challenges to continue his/her education and pursue career goals
Stand and Deliver Award – Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young has been a corporate partner of the Philadelphia Academies for many years and is fully committed to the mission of providing classes, programs and work experiences for high school students in the Philadelphia public school system. William R. Sasso, Chairman, will represent the company as the Academies’ 2010 honoree.
Hearing Rubby’s story inspired me to work even harder, and listening to the obstacles he’s overcome, gave me the courage to keep pursuing my own passions. I am thankful I had the opportunity to attend, and it was a true blessing hearing the passion of these youngsters from Philly. I also had the opportunity to design the invitation and the signage for the event. (see photo below)
The after party soon followed, and these intelligent, hardworking citizens of Philadelphia cut loose. I just want to say, they still know how to party! After a serious discussion with the Mayor about the sugar tax, and who from my agency he would take to a desert island, he pardoned himself and proceeded to the stage where he rapped every lyric to Sugar Hill Gangs, Rapper’s Delight; not making that up at all.
The funniest part of this event didn’t actually occur on the night of the event, but rather the following week. My boss came in one morning and said, “You won’t believe the story I am about to tell you”. Apparently, Lisa Nutter recognized him from the event, and approached him at Marathon Grill. She said, “Your boys (myself and my co-worker) were a great time, they closed out the bar.” Michael (Mayor Nutter) even said your one guy (me) introduced you (my boss) to him (Mayor Nutter) saying, hey Mike meet my boss.” They actually got a kick out of me calling him Mike, which was very cool on their part. He will definitely get my vote on his upcoming term.
If you’re interested in reading more about the Philadelphia Academies, check out www.academiesinc.org.
I’ll give you a hint – the blatant typo is in the title.
@Spell Check if you are referring to “academies” it is not a typo. Read along, check again. please and thank you.