The community certainly turned up for the 49th annual Hopkinsville Human Rights Commission Unity Breakfast Thursday morning, as attendees learned about unarmed truth and unconditional love from local students and award winners.
This year’s breakfast featured performances from youth with Men2Be, Hoptown Idol winner Chassity Mumford and Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority President Derrick Watson sang the National Anthem. It was also host to a panel made of a student from each of the local high schools, talking about unity in the community and what unconditional love means to them.
Stephan Lovan Jr. of Christian County High School says he thinks unarmed truth means not attacking the people around you, but attacking the real issues.
The panel was hosted by Jennifer Brown, who asked the students what the community can do to better reach the youth—Annabel Nicholson of Heritage Christian Academy says you can reach out on social media and go to the schools, but the best way to show them what to do, is to do it yourself in your actions.
Several awards were handed out during the breakfast, including the Volunteer of the Year Award, which went to Mindy Hargrove, the Bernard Standard of Excellence—which was presented to Dr. Kevin Felton—and the Mayor’s Unity Award, which was awarded to Tab Brockman.
But the prestigious Hal and Bettye Thurmond Award went to Tishauna Douglas, who said it was an honor just to have been nominated, and she took the chance to charge everyone in to room with working together to make the community a better place through outreach and education with local youth.
HRC Executive Director Raychel Farmer says the commission remains committed to the people of Hopkinsville and dedicated to their mission of service.
A video presentation from young children across the community was shown, where they spoke about what love is to them, what truth means, and how they would show those actions to the people they love.
