Susan Taylor (third from left), founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence Magazine, was the featured speaker at the Feeding Dreams Community Champions Luncheon and Awards Ceremony. There to hear her and champion the cause were: (l-r) Fox 13 News anchor Mearl Pervis, Burnetta B. Williams of FedEx, Rust College Vice President Sheila Flemming-Hunter, Willie Brooks of FedEx, and Judge Jayne Chandler. (Photo by Tyrone P. Easley.)

General Mills, Inc. honored three local heroes at the Feeding Dreams Community Champions Luncheon and Awards Ceremony this Tuesday at the Hilton Memphis.

Chauniece Connor	Linda Guy
Ekundayo Bandele	Susan Taylor

Those honored were Chauniece Conner of Ballet on Wheels Dance School, which teaches dance to children of all ages and races; Linda Guy of Hope House, one of only 10 agencies nationwide that provides services to those affected by or infected with HIV/AIDS; and Ekundayo Bandele of the Hattiloo Theatre Camp Awareness, which teaches local children. Each was honored for dedication to their communities.

Feeding Dreams, in its second year, is an initiative created by General Mills, Inc. It recognizes and celebrates local heroes who have devoted their lives to helping others, nurturing their communities and charting a better future. Fox 13 Anchor Mearl Purvis served as Mistress of Ceremony and the guest speaker was Susan L. Taylor, founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence Magazine.

Taylor took the opportunity to speak to the audience about the importance of mentoring in our community. She has taken the experience of her work with Essence to lay the groundwork for her current project.

She is now the founder of National CARES Mentoring Movement, which she founded in 2006 as Essence Cares. The National CARES Mentoring Movement is a call to action for the African American Community to get involved in local mentoring opportunities for young people. It is a massive campaign created to recruit one million adults to serve as mentors while increasing high school graduation rates, ending violence in African American communities and reducing the incarceration of African-American youth.

“When the call goes out for mentors, the first respondents are white women and then white men, then black women and black men”, says Taylor, “If you look at who is waiting on those lists for mentors to show up are Black boys. Mentoring is an inexpensive, high results solution to a deepening crisis.”

(If you would like to get involved with National CARES locally, you may contact the coordinator for MemphisCares.org, Dr. Sheila Fleming Hunter, at 901-871-2813. For more information regarding the Feeding Dreams initiative, visit www.feedingdreams.com.)