Cleareatha Harris is a single mother of three so devoted to child welfare that she adopted five other youngsters to keep them from becoming wards of the state.
Sister Clara, as she is known, has spent 30 years coming to the aid of others. On Dec. 7, though, she was one of those honored at the Harambee Brunch, an event that also celebrated the founding, in 1935, of the .
LeNitra Oliver and Kathy Jackson chaired the midmorning gathering hosted by and held at the Doubletree Hotel Stapleton.
Elbra Wedgeworth, a former Denver City Council member now serving as chief government and community relations officer for the , was honorary chair and keynote speaker; Eddie Koen Jr., business development manager for and a candidate for a masters of liberal arts degree from , was master of ceremonies.
The Mary McLeod Bethune Legacy Award went to Gerie Grimes, president/CEO of the Hope Center and president of the Denver Early Childhood Council, while Jaida Rollins, a junior at Rangeview High School, and Tiara Wilson, a senior at Hinkley High School, received the Dorothy I. Height Youth Leadership Award. Bethune is the founder of NCNW, and Height served as its president for 40 years.
Grimes’ 45 years of community service also includes two terms as president of the Metropolitan State University Alumni Board. She has also been president of the Colorado Black Roundtable, Colorado Black Women for Political Action and the Police Activities League.
Rollins maintains a 4.33 grade- point average at Rangeview, where she is a member of the poms squad. She had a key role in getting fellow members of Aurora’s First Love Christian Fellowship Church to assemble and distribute holiday “care packages” to the homeless, and to host clothing giveaways throughout the year.
Wilson will graduate from Hinkley High with honors; her current 4.6 grade-point average puts her ninth in a senior class of 550. She is vice president of Hinkley’s student council and attends the University of Denver Pioneer Prep Institute and the Colorado State University STEM Alliance Institute.
Guests at the brunch included state Rep. Rhonda Fields; Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher; architects Bertram Bruton and Warren Hogue III; president Elma Hairston; Barbara Shannon-Banister, director of ; vocalist Ollie Smith; retired educator Wanda Beauman; and such NCNW-Denver members as Annie Howard, Janice Gipson-Jennings, Virginia Payne, Tina Carter, Kala Greene and Antionetta Oliver.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
