AMERICUS — The Boys and Girls Club of Americus/Sumter County Inc. will host its 18th annual Steak & Stake Charity Fundraiser on Tuesday, July 19.
This year’s banquet will be held at Georgia Southwestern State University Success Center Storm Dome. The event will start at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction, dinner at 6 p.m. and the program immediately following. Performances by Wintley Phipps and the club’s youth will also be featured.
The children of the Boys and Girls Club of Americus/Sumter County are counting on your presence at this event. Your support is needed in the areas of ticket purchases, corporate sponsorship and/or a donation of items for our silent auction. Your contribution will make a tremendous difference in a child’s life by affording the Boys and Girls Club of Americus/Sumter County the means to continue and expand our services. The organization’s mission is to empower youth by creating opportunities in a positive environment. Individual tickets are on sale for $75 and corporate sponsorship levels are listed below.
Wintley A. Phipps  was born in Trinidad, West Indies, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended Kingsway College, a Christian Academy; Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in yheology; and earned a master’s of divinity degree from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Phipps holds an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from Waynesburg University; an honorary doctor of laws degree from Oakwood University; and an honorary degree of doctor of education from Wheelock College. Phipps is married to  Linda Diane Galloway Phipps (a registered nurse) and they have three sons.
Phipps is a world-renowned vocal artist, pastor, motivational speaker, and education activist. He is the founder, president, and CEO of the U.S. Dream Academy Inc., a non-profit, national after-school program that provides mentoring and tutoring around the country to children of incarcerated parents and children falling behind in school. Founded in 1998, this organization has grown from one center in Washington, D.C., to 11 locations in seven cities across this nation. The Dream Academy program offers skill-building, character-building and dream-building activities in a safe after-school environment utilizing both one-to-one mentoring as well as state of the art technology to deliver on-line academic enrichment.
For his work at the U.S. Dream Academy Phipps has received numerous service awards, among them The Excellence in Mentoring for Program Leadership Award from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership; the Oprah Winfrey Angel Network Use Your Life Award; the Philanthropist of the Year Award from The National Center for Black Philanthropy Inc.; and the Distinguished Service Award from Loma Linda University. In recognition of his positive global impact through speaking engagements in Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and North and South America, The National Speakers Association awarded Wintley the prestigious Master of Influence Award.
For more than 28 years, he has traveled the world delivering messages of hope, advocacy, and equality to many thousands of people. A video of Phipps performing “Amazing Grace” has enjoyed  over seven million views on YouTube.
A two-time Grammy Award nominee in 1988 and 1989, Phipps is no stranger to performing in front of distinguished audiences. In addition to President Obama, other notable listeners have included former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Georgie W. Bush and former South African President Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Oprah Winfrey. He has been the featured speaker and performer for many notable occasions around the world.
Phipps has performed on Saturday Night Live and been the special guest on the Emmy award-winning series Super Soul Sunday on the Oprah Winfrey Network. He is the author of The Power of A Dream (1996) and Your Best Destiny (2015).
Sponsorship opportunities are as follow.
TITANIUM $5,000 – Four tables, seats 32, company logo on all printed materials, company signage, priority seating, introduction of organization representatives during the event, pre-event publicity about the organization, and eight tickets for the pre-event reception with keynote speaker, Wintley Augustus Phipps, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
PLATINUM: $3,000-$4,000 – Three tables, seats 24, company logo on all printed materials, company signage, priority seating, introduction of organization representatives during the event, pre-event publicity about the organization, and eight tickets for the pre-event reception with keynote speaker, Wintley Augustus Phipps, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
GOLD: $2,000 – Three tables, seats 24, company logo on all printed materials, company signage, priority seating, and four tickets for the pre-event reception with keynote speaker, Wintley Augustus Phipps, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
Call Shirley Green-Reese at 229-938-3300, Andrea Sartiano at 229-331-0217, Susan Ruckmann at 229-942-6618 or one of the board members to request tickets or corporate sponsorship for this event. You may also purchase your tickets online with a credit card at www.bgcsumter.org.
If you have a silent auction item to donate, use the same contacts as above. The board of directors is seeking collegiate paraphernalia donated items for the University of Georgia, Florida State University, Auburn University, Albany State University, Georgia Southwestern State University, Georgia Tech, University of Florida, Georgia State University, South Georgia Technical College, Savannah State University, Fort Valley State University or any other collegiate institution.