By Dawn Scotland
The Truth Reporter
CGI Black Wall Street Toledo and the Lima-based 2024 Community Enrichment Dinner (CED) held a news conference on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m., at the Ternion Training and Education Center (TTEC), 5212 Hill Avenue, announcing their upcoming 2024 Community Enrichment Dinner that will feature a performance of the award-winning play, Black Angels Over Tuskegee.
Chair and Founder of the Community Enrichment Dinner, Jerome O’Neal, said that CED, now in its 13th year, is currently the largest sit-down dinner in Northwest Ohio. The annual event hosts an esteemed list of attendees every year with an array of awards given to numerous businesses that have made an impact in the community.
This year, the dinner is expanding further including partnerships in the tri-city area of Toledo, Lima and Findlay, Ohio.
“We have relationships from Toledo to Findlay that are going to be exposed to the dinner this year,” stated O’Neal. “There is going to be a lot of synergy and relationship back and forth.”
The Toledo Black Wall Street Community Development, as well as the Engage Studio Architects, also Toledo based, will be partnering with the CED for this year’s event.
TTEC Executive Director Stephanie Boutte is the inaugural Community Enrichment Red Tail Pioneer Award recipient. That honor is bestowed upon an individual by CED for making a positive impact in “underserved communities.” TTEC offers educational services and vocational training for vocational occupations and careers.
“As the Tuskegee Airmen Red Tails fought with courage and conviction, this award symbolizes those same attributes in business,” said Kristie Knighten, CEO of KpK Unlimited Custom Apparel and CGI Black Wall Street Toledo member.
This year’s award recipients will be announced at the 2024 Community Enrichment Dinner scheduled to take place on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m., at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center in Lima. Dinner attendees will be treated with the presentation Black Angels Over Tuskegee, which is a play that depicts “the collective struggle of the first African-American aviators in the United States Army Air Forces as they overcame Jim Crow-era injustices with intelligence, patriotism and brotherhood.”
“We are very excited to partner for the first time with our friends here in Toledo to bring the Tuskegee Experience to the 2024 Community Enrichment Dinner,” O’Neal stated. “This story shows how passionate people can join forces to achieve their dreams.”
The dinner will present a special announcement about the building of a new structure in Lima, OH. The structure will be constructed by Toledo architecture firm Engage Studio Architects.
Tickets for the dinner range from $90-$110 and can be purchased online at cedlima.com, or the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center box office at (419) 224-5222. Tables of eight and sponsorships are available.
To learn more the CED and to purchase tickets visit www.cedlima.com.
