69th Annual Humanitarian Award Celebration: 2023

Time again for The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio’s annual celebration and fundraiser.

Take a look back at last year.

November 14, 2023 the awards ceremony was being held. Since two days following I was heading to the Lake Erie Gala for three days, I got a gel manicure on my way to the event. I walked in behind another woman and we both had to check in on the iPads at the register. She had some trouble, so I helped her check in and then we ended up selecting our nail polishes at the same time, chatting the entire time. It was really sweet!

I have had this dress for quite some time, I am sure a few dollar bargain. I never felt right wearing it as I felt it had sort of a Mother-of-the-Bride vibe to it. Today, she got out and the compliments were amazing and often. No one agreed with my assessment of the dress. I did sort of pop against all the colors worn by the predominantly well-monied corporate crowd.

My intention was to take my pictures downtown somewhere, but as I was driving a thought popped into my head about a recently updated and renovated industrial complex. I knew I would be able to find an uninhabited area and I knew the building had great black and white backdrops. This dress really stood out against this backing. I was very pleased with this selfie shoot. If I didn’t have to pee and it wasn’t so cold, I could have taken many more photos.

It was so great to see so many people again. The love I get is almost criminal (maybe I should rephrase that). Hugging people, people coming toward me with their arms spread wide, smiles of recognition, “love the dress”, “love that color”, it was, is and always will be why I do this. Reminder: give of yourself, in big ways and small, the rewards will be a hundred fold.

My role was to make sure the lines around the registration table flowed as quickly as possible. I make a pretty good traffic cop in circumstances like this. After finishing my responsibilities, I enjoyed my dinner with a few other volunteers and my friends and I snapped a quick selfie. One awesome evening!

One of the ladies!