Black Gala

Shhh! Speak “easy”

The 3rd Annual
Black Gala fundraiser
is approaching.

You won’t want to miss
what we have in store!

EVENT INFORMATION

DATE: December 9, 2023

TIME: Doors Open at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: Haworth Hotel at Hope College – 225 College Avenue, Holland

Harlem Nights

Welcome to the most anticipated event of 2023!

Get ready to step back in time and experience the glamour and glitz of the Roaring Twenties at the Black Gala Harlem Night fundraiser. Our annual event is back with a bang and it promises to be bigger, better and more glamorous than ever before. Join us for an unforgettable evening of entertainment, music, and dancing as we raise funds for a great cause. So, don your finest attire and get ready to party like it’s 1923!

We all have dreams but the journies are different. The support and resources are different. This year’s theme is “I AM the Dream” and is all about taking our genius within to create the dream life. Betting on ourselves and those around us. It is not only our focus to empower our students and help them see the genius within themselves, but also to empower our community to see that we are better together. A sold out crowd joined us in this work at last year’s Black Gala. We took off our masks and together we invested in the creation of positively impacting the lives of our youth.

Welcome to the most anticipated event of 2023!

We all have dreams but the journies are different. The support and resources are different. This year’s theme is “I AM the Dream” and is all about taking our genius within to create the dream life. Betting on ourselves and those around us. It is not only our focus to empower our students and help them see the genius within themselves, but also to empower our community to see that we are better together. A sold out crowd of joined us in this work at last year’s Black Gala. We took off our masks and together we invested in the creation of positively impacting the lives of our youth.

Sponsorship

the Black Gala HARLEM NIGHTS

Shhh! Speak “easy”

The 3rd Annual Black Gala fundraiser is approaching.
You won’t want to miss what we have in store!

Gala INFORMATION

DATE: December 9, 2023

TIME: Doors Open at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: Haworth Hotel at Hope College – 225 College Avenue, Holland

Want to support this year's dream?

Become a Sponsor Today!

CLICK HERE

Want to support this year's dream?

Become a Sponsor Today!

CLICK HERE

- THANK YOU 2023 Sponsors -

GOLD SPONSOR

Philanthropy & Engagement - SILVER SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

Black Student Union - SILVER SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSOR

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

SINCE 2011

MAKE A CHANGE

“Hold fast to dreams,

for if dreams die,

life is a broken-winged bird

that cannot fly.”

– Langston Hughes

- Since 2011 -

OUR STORY

For many years, the preparation of African American students in our schools has left them less than adequately prepared to compete for desirable jobs and equitable compensation. Many have experienced the effects of generational poverty. Others have been steered to inferior schools or placed in less challenging curricula. Nearly all have been subjected to lower expectations by society and by themselves. Although some are not influenced by these factors, many still under-achieve in spite of their ability

Henry and Lindsay Cherry, both committed educators, saw the impact of these factors on their students and even on their own children. They reached out to individual students with various aid, but soon realized that more help was needed. They developed a plan to help more students and to address many of the root causes. Soon, it became apparent that students needed personal attention and that mentors would be needed to meet that need. While not neglecting the needs of poverty, hunger, and societal inequities, they began recruiting and training mentors, many of whom were minority students from Hope College and other post-secondary education backgrounds. They developed a model for I AM ACADEMY, which continues to expand in scope each year.

Lindsay continues to work as an Assistant Principal for West Ottawa Public Schools, while Henry devotes his time to directing I AM full time, in addition to his Master of Arts in Theology studies at Western Theological Seminary.