Inaugural Men Of Virtue Celebration Honors Four South Side Men

Four Washington Park men were recently honored at the Inaugural Men of Virtue Business Networking Celebration. Photo Credit: Washington Park Chamber of Commerce
Four Washington Park men were recently honored at the Inaugural Men of Virtue Business Networking Celebration. Photo Credit: Washington Park Chamber of Commerce

Inaugural Men Of Virtue Celebration Honors Four South Side Men

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The Washington Park Chamber of Commerce recently held their inaugural Men of Virtue Business Networking Celebration where four men were honored for their contributions to the community.

The event was held at the Washington Park Refectory, 5531 S. Russell Dr., and included dinner, music, networking and guest speakers who addressed topics on health, financial security, and entrepreneurship.

“There are so many negative stories that we hear coming from communities on the south side and west side so we wanted to highlight the positive things that are happening. In particular, with the men of the Washington Park community. We decided to honor four men in four different categories,” said Donna Hampton-Smith, president of the Washington Park Chamber of Commerce. “We honored a businessman, a strong father, a resilient leader, and a clergyman.”

In order to find the honorees, the Washington Park Chamber of Commerce asked for nominations from the community. At the event Rashad Umrani received the Businessman award, Coston Plummer, Sr. was given the Strong Father award, Reverend Harry J. Reese received the Resilient Leader award, and Pastor Bill H. Brown received the Clergy-Man of God award.

“The men were very thrilled and humbled to be acknowledged, and they agree that you hear a lot of negative things being said about the community of Washington Park so to be honored and recognized for the work they do, they were just very thrilled and pleased,” said Hampton-Smith.

The Washington Park Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization with a mission to create economic opportunities for businesses in the Washington Park community.

“As a Chamber, our mission is to not work only with businesses but also work with residents, so this event is a great opportunity for businesses and residents and community stakeholders to partner and come together to network to get to know one another to build the community of Washington Park,” said Hampton-Smith. We’d love to do this every year.”

Another purpose for hosting the Men of Virtue Business Networking Celebration was to raise money for the organization’s Christmas on 55th Street event which takes place in December.

“One of the goals was to raise money for our Christmas on 55th Street event which is an event that brings community partners, churches, schools, and businesses together to celebrate one another and bring about peace and to unify the community,” said Hampton-Smith.

In addition to supporting economic development, Hampton-Smith said the organization is looking for new ways to work with residents and to help them to develop entrepreneurial and job skills. She is hoping that as they continue to host the Men of Virtue Business Networking Celebration year after year, they will be able to expand the event to offer more opportunities for men in the community.

“One of the things that we’ve talked about doing is pulling in a component to help with entrepreneurship and developing gentlemen to be business minded,” said Hampton-Smith.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.