James Buford, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, had a fantastic first week of March.
Last Saturday, Mentor St. Louis honored Buford with its second Mentor St. Louis Award “for his dedication to children.”
On Monday, Buford and the Urban League celebrated the organization’s 87th annual Dinner Meeting at the Millennium Hotel, with political commentator Juan Williams offering the keynote address.
“It has been a tremendous year,” Buford said during a press conference before the dinner meeting
“We are rated the highest of the 105 affiliates with a ‘5′ rating, and we are the only chapter to receive a ‘5′ rating. National Urban League President Marc Morial selected us to be the first affiliate in the history of the organization to host an on-site national Board of Trustees meeting.”
Buford directs a budget of $13.7 million, with 174 employees, 10 sites in Missouri and the Metro East, and more than 50 programs and projects.
Williams, who hosts a show on National Public Radio and writes for newspapers including the Washington Post, told the crowd of more than 1,000 people at the annual gathering that “this is a special moment in American history.”
“It has been 40 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed, and we’re coming up on the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. These were called ‘landmark moments.’ This is where we are today, back at landmark moments.”
Williams said, “It doesn’t seem like a second term” in regard to President Bush’s re-election.
“There is much more controversy than I expected. Most Americans probably didn’t think that Social Security would be the raging debate. What happened to terrorism? What happened to the war in Iraq? These questions dominated the campaign.”
On Saturday night, Buford also helped Mentor St. Louis’ first-of-its-kind raffle to sell out n allowing it to continue its program and provide a local family with more than $10,000 in groceries.
The 750 raffle tickets were purchased in a single bidding frenzy at a dinner attended by nearly 600 supporters. Lawrence L. Cohn of Clayton, who held the winning ticket, graciously donated the prize n two years’ worth of groceries n back to the organization for distribution to a family in the Mentor St. Louis program. The “Touch a Heart, Fill a Cart” raffle was sponsored by Express Scripts, Inc.
Cohn, a Washington University graduate and local venture capitalist, said his gift represented his loves for children and for St. Louis.
“Children are the future of the city,” Cohn said. “The city and everyone in it will be a much greater success when they succeed.”
During the evening, nearly $220,000 was raised.
“Mr. Cohn’s donation is a stunning example of the kind of support our business and community leaders are willing to provide to strengthen the prospects of our children,” said Peter A. Franzen, executive director of Mentor St. Louis.
Thousands of children in grades K-6 have participated in Mentor St. Louis, the St. Louis Public Schools’ largest volunteer organization, during the past decade. Mentors n who support, not supplant, a child’s parents n are often paired with the same child for several years and create a bond by assisting with schoolwork, attending events together, and regularly keeping in touch.