Q: Where were you raised, and what brought you to the Dayton area?
Fred: I was born in Sheffield, Alabama, and raised in Lima, Ohio. I moved to the Dayton area after accepting a civil service position at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. I was employed as a civilian employee and served as a computer programmer, mathematician and operations research analyst over a 30-plus year career. I later was employed as an Air Force contracted employee and adjunct mathematics, management, logistics and computer science instructor at several local colleges and universities.
Anita: I am from Alamo, Tennessee. After moving to Dayton, I accepted a position as a teacher in the Dayton Public Schools District. I was employed as a science teacher at various high schools in the district for over 35 years.
Q: What inspires you about the Dayton community?
Fred: We marvel at the resiliency of the people in this community. We are amazed that this community, in spite of the many job losses and other setbacks, is able to continue to meet the needs of those who are less fortunate.
Q: Why is helping others important to you?
Anita: We both grew up in very humble circumstances. Therefore, community service is very important to us, and it's our way of life. We have been very fortunate in life, and thank God for the opportunity to be able to help others.
Q: Have you volunteered for local nonprofits?
Fred: I have volunteered for multiple church organizations that provided financial and personnel support to local urban family support organizations. I served on the Dayton Ombudsman Board and the Long Term Care Ombudsman's office, as well as volunteered as an instructor for elementary school students.
Anita: I served as a member of the Wesley Community Center Board, various Dayton Public School organizations in support of students and as a NAACP Youth Advisor.
Q: Why did you decide to open a charitable fund through the African-American Community Fund of The Dayton Foundation?
Fred: We learned about the African-American Community Fund through some of our friends who were involved in its organization and management, and we were aware of its grants to local nonprofits. It has a long and successful history of supporting local organizations, and we wanted to leave a lasting legacy for our community.
Q: You recently celebrated your 50th wedding anniversary. Did you make a special request of your friends in honor of this occasion?
Anita: In lieu of gifts, we requested that our family and friends make a donation to our donor advised fund through the African-American Community Fund. We were really surprised by the overwhelming response and significant donations that were made. Their contributions will support the charitable work of the fund in the future. Their unselfish support was very much appreciated. The Dayton Foundation also was helpful in that they sent each person who donated a receipt for their donation.
Q: What advice can you share about giving to the community?
Fred: Paraphrasing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Everybody can be great…because anyone can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
In essence, giving to the community does not require one to have a lot of money or other resources. For example, both of us have volunteered to serve food at the St. Vincent Homeless Shelter, and all it took was time.
Q: How would you complete this sentence, “My giving makes me feel____”?
A: Our giving makes us feel that we are fulfilling our spiritual obligations from the book of Matthew 25:31-46, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it for one of the least of these, you did it for me." It makes us feel that we are fully contributing to the betterment of society.
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