Today, I had the pleasure of joining Phyllis, our president, and our new philanthropic education officer, Nicole, at the Prince George’s County Fire Department’s "Hour of Power."
The staff around The Women’s Foundation know that I’m a big advocate of the "civilized lunch," where you actually leave your desk and talk to other human beings.
The women of the Prince George’s County Fire Department are taking that idea a lot further–gathering for "Hour of Power" lunches to get to know one other, take time out for their goals, dreams and wishes and to foster their own sense of empowerment through each other.
Now that’s a civilized, if not inspiring, awesome idea.
And if that’s not inspiring enough, their theme for this year is "Vision to Victory."
Phyllis was asked to come in as the guest speaker and to lead today’s lunch. She started off with the videos and stories of Lacey Paey and Sharan Mitchell–and their personal stories of vision to victory.
Then the discussion moved to the power of women to support their families and communities, and the many ways that they give back, often without realizing the extent of their impact.
Invariably, in a room full of dynamic, powerful women like those that we met today, the conversation eventually turned to The Power of Giving Together, and how women, working together, can accomplish so much.
When asked what this group might like to do, together, what issues they saw in their community that they wanted to see changed, it was clear that many were already playing an active role in programs and interventions to help build the self-esteem of young women or in supporting individuals who needed information or resources to move into better careers.
Power indeed.
By the end of the hour, as we made our way out to head back to the office, we walked through groups of excited chatter about ways to get involved, ways to do more, ways to work together to positively impact their community.
In summing up, Lieutenant Colonel Carla Blue, who convened the Hour of Power, offered a great statement that embodies what we refer to as The Power of Giving Together.
"A little bit with so many can add up to so much," she said, concluding a very empowering hour, indeed.
