BHMACC - Benevolence in the Time of COVID-19

Benevolence In The Time of COVID-19

We here at the Black Heritage Museum & Cultural Center hope that you all are staying safe as we move through this pandemic and as it challenges all our economic, political, and social systems. The BHMACC’s cultural way models how we as a country can get through this crisis in unity and sanity.   

In our efforts to help build a free and just civil society, BHMACC moves toward freedom, scholarship, diversity, artistic, and economic development for everyone. But whether it was our pre-COVID Friday night talent shows, the college representatives’ pep rallies that opened each College Round-Up, or even the fish fry’s after our events, we know that community coming together to make it all work for everyone and help get us through to the other side is what it takes.

The Black Heritage Museum & Cultural Center has always moved forward as a part of the collective community. 

We hope that our holistic approach to serving all people uplifts the hearts and minds of those we serve. We hope those who can fund our work recognize that community responses to this current crisis closely reflect the model that we have been working from for almost two decades. We did not create the model, but we have been working it since our beginning.

Our model is not new. Black communities have been living collectively and benevolently since forever. It has been one of the ways that we have survived for centuries.  

My grandmother was born in 1888. When I was a child in the 1950s, she had been heading up a benevolent society for decades. I looked forward to her having her ‘Society Meetings’ at her house each month. She allowed me to sit with them as long as I was quiet. 

Each month at that meeting the members each reported back on some aspect of community need; the government was trying to take someone’s farm for taxes; burial assistance may have been needed; someone needed food and winter clothing for their children; a family’s breadwinner had passed away and the family was ‘on the verge’.

They would talk for a while and discuss the need to prioritize the situations before them, and based on how much was in the treasury, solve as many issues as possible. My grandmother would always pull out her purse to add to the treasury to meet those ends and leave no one out.

We are going to come out of this current adversity better and stronger. That is why I am not going to talk about the virus, but I am going to talk about the launch of our BHMACC Benevolent Society. Help us get it done with your donation at Benevolence in the Time of COVID-19 | GAgives or Benevolence in the Time of COVID-19 | Mightycause

As an organization we have engaged in benevolent work from our start. We have seen our work change the lives of families; help lift them out of difficult circumstances as they move toward the goals they set for themselves. Our programs have been the catalysts for transformation.

From helping students and families with postsecondary education and jobs, to our most recent food distribution to make sure that some of our most vulnerable families had groceries during this November holiday season. We bring forth and support the work of overlooked but extremely talented community-based artists in need of a platform to expose a broader audience to their work, choreographers, authors, and playwrights who need an opportunity to build an audience for their work.  

We continue to help the most vulnerable members of our communities. Our programs help make it possible for them to take advantage of educational, cultural, and experiential opportunities. Help us fund our programs. Your support is how we will survive. 

We rely on ‘people support’ primarily. Be a part of the collective benevolence that will make possible the survival of a thriving community. Help us reach our end of year goal with your tax-deductible donation. 

We appreciate those of you who have recognized the value in our work. Donate, encourage others to join us in our work. BHMACC Benevolence Society | bhmacc

We bid you peace & blessings,

Dianne Valentin

Founder & CEO

BHMACC

https://bhmacc.org/bhmaccc-benevolent-society