Destination: Success!
It’s rather impossible to summarize my feelings about our recent fundraising party, Destination Delridge: A Landmark Celebration, held on Friday February 26th. But I will try…mostly, I will here express my tremendous gratitude for our community and everyone who made this event possible.
It was our first fundraiser in several years, so no part of it was plug-and-play, and the hard work of many proved well worth it to gather and honor our community, to celebrate 20 years of DNDA and 10 years of Youngstown, and to raise needed funds to drive our work forward in the Delridge community.
Mayor Ed Murray, David Bestock, Willard Brown
The event itself was a blast, and the room at Metropolist was full of amazing people having a great time. I was especially thankful to be joined that night by DNDA’s founder Paul Fischburg and three founding board members – Steve Daschle, Ron Angeles, and Pablo Lambinicio, as we were there celebrating the work of the organization they helped start in 1996. It was also great having Randy Engstrom, founding Director of Youngstown and now Director of the Office of Arts & Culture, in attendance along with other former DNDA/Youngstown staff and board members, as well as regional movers and shakers including Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, King County Executive (and former DNDA board member) Dow Constantine, and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott. In addition of course to another 185 amazing and inspiring attendees.
In lead up to the event, and the craziness that inevitably comes with pulling the thing off, huge thanks go to our whole staff and board, to our event planner Renatta Emerson of Immersion Events, and to all of our volunteers. A great portion of the event was powered by members of our community – upon entering the space, guests were greeted by the aerial performances of longtime Youngstown renters The Cabiri, an interactive art installation by Youngstown staffer and resident BK Tran, roving musicians Daniel Pak and Thaddeus Turner of Youngstown tenant Totem Star, a Delridge history exhibit by Clay Eals of DNDA partner SW Seattle Historical Society, and the DJ stylings of the Hua Twins, made up of lead Delridge Mural Project artist Louis Chinn, and Meng Yu who is a local artist as well as a former staffer at FEEST which started under DNDA’s wing at Youngstown.
Getting the program underway!
The evening’s program featured a poem by Roberto Ascalon, a Youngstown resident who has worked as a teaching artist with nearly all of our anchor tenants, avideo produced by anchor tenant Reel Grrls in collaboration with Totem Star and Youth Speaks, a breakdance performance by the Vicious Puppies who essentially formed at Youngstown through youth arts classes years ago, an inspiring speech by Cedric Dennard II, one of the youth participants in our Delridge Mural Project, a Raise-the-Paddle led by Karen Finneyfrock, who is a Youngstown resident as well as a known local author and teaching artist. We honored Willard Brown, DNDA staffer and former board member, who received our inaugural Delridge Champion award, and we heard words from Domenica Lovaglia, DNDA Board President and co-owner of Metropolist, as well as aforementioned Youngstown Founder Randy Engstrom. We also heard words from yours truly, as I happily played ringmaster and emcee.
I am honored to be in a leadership role at an organization with such a vibrant history of vital, localized work, with an emphasis on social justice. The room at Metropolist on Friday February 26th was full of our powerful and connected community. Thank you to everyone who made Destination Delridge: A Landmark Celebration possible. And here’s to many more years of community-based work in Delridge.