The Anson County Partnership for Children named Charles and Gail Litaker as the 2015 Champions for Children during the Partnership’s third annual reception last Thursday.
Charles was the minister of music at First United Methodist Church from the age of 18 until he passed away this March. Gail is still the assistant music director there and the children’s music director at First Baptist Church. The two have a combined total of 68 years in service of teaching music in Anson County, according to the event program. The couple was nominated by Elizabeth Goins.
While Gail was unable to attend the reception, she wrote a letter to the Partnership thanking them for the honor. Margaret Goins read it to the audience. “How we loved sharing the music with our children, the Anson County children, and the church children in this county,” she wrote. “Charles and I were partners in the home, the school, the community and the church. Music was our job and our enjoyment, and the two merged continuously as we worked together in all things. Teaching music to the children, no matter what the age, was our way of reaching in and grabbing their hearts and giving them immediate enjoyment and musical knowledge, enough to pursue that love for a lifetime.”
Gail encouraged the audience to continue to provide the children with music. “I would like to thank the Partnership for Children for honoring us as a team in music education and a champion for the children’s growth and well-being,” she said. “Our goal in life was to create such joy in class and worship that our students would attain that everlasting love for the music. Continue to do this for the children. Playing the music wherever you go, sing the music with each other, dance it wherever you are, and share it daily with the children in your life. Keep the music close to your heart. Thank you for honoring us tonight. It is the highest of honors to be linked with the building-up of a child.”
The other nominees were Pastor Tim Adams, Frankie McLaurin, Bonnie Morgan and Janice Ratliff. Dr. Fred Thompson, board chair, introduced the nominees.
Adams is a pastor at Harvest Ministries in Wadesboro. “Since the founding of Harvest Ministries in 1995, Pastor Tim has provided transportation, recreational programs, after school programs and Saturday events free of charge to all children in the county,” the program said. “Pastor Tim established mentoring programs such as Girl Power and Brother2Brother, providing role models to teach vital life skills and to make a lasting impact.” The pastor is involved in a variety of other volunteer efforts, as well. He was nominated by Harvest Ministries.
McLaurin is a retired elementary teacher who served in the school system for 35 years. “Knowing that many children in Anson County go hungry when they are not at school, Frankie established the Blessings in a Book Bag Program through First Baptist Church after her retirement,” the program said. “Numerous community volunteers donate funds, shop for groceries, bag the items and deliver the book bags to the schools each week.” The program currently serves 42 students, giving them non-perishable food each weekend. She was nominated by Dr. Robert L. Hunter Jr.
Morgan is the Literacy and Community Outreach Coordinator at the Partnership, and was surprised by her nomination, which her coworkers hid from her until the reception. Serving in a variety of other positions, Morgan has been with the Partnership since 1999. “Not only does Bonnie go above and beyond in her job at the Partnership, but also with her church and in the community,” the program said. “There is rarely an event in Anson County that Bonnie doesn’t help with or attend. Bonnie’s eyes always sparkle with excitement, pride and joy for the children she serves in Anson County.” She was nominated by her daughter, Emily Lastowski.
Ratliff is a retired teacher who was with the local school system for 38 years. “Through her church, Ebenezer Presbyterian, she established Builders of Self Esteem (BOSE),” the program said. “For over 15 years, the BOSE after-school program provided basic social training (including etiquette lessons), enrichment activities (including a field trip to Disney World), and academic assistance to at-risk students of all ages. Each day Janice provided transportation from school to her home and even provided overnight care in her home when needed.” BOSE has been so successful that other churches are implementing similar programs. She was nominated by Kaye Ratliff.
As a couple, Charles and Gail Litaker are the third Champion for Children the Partnership has named. Margaret Goins and Vancine Sturdivant were the Champions in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Keynote speaker
Keynote speaker Rosie Allen Ryan praised the nominees and the Partnership during her speech. Ryan, co-chair of the Nurse-Family Partnership Statewide Advisory Council and a board member of Prevent Child Abuse N.C., visited Anson County in 2007 to speak to the local board about the first-ever Barn Blast, which is now a successful annual fundraiser. “I’m truly blessed to come back to Anson County and find out how successful your Barn Blast has been, to go from $12,000 to $70,000,” she said. “That is a huge success.”
When her 6-year-old grandson was 4, Ryan said he told her he was a “useful engine” after going to church, watching his sibling, helping his father and taking a bath all by himself. Ryan’s son-in-law said the child used the term after hearing the classic children’s story “The Little Engine that Could.” In the story, the littlest engine takes on a task that other, bigger engines have declined: hauling a long train up a mountain to bring food and toys to children.
Now, being a “useful engine” has become a family phrase. “When I call my husband tonight, I’ll say, ‘Well, I think I was a useful engine,’ and he’s going to know exactly what that means,” Ryan said.
Ryan read the story to the audience. “It came to me that when I come to Anson County, I can use this book as a metaphor for what I believe you all have accomplished,” she said. Drawing upon the audience for input, she said that volunteers have delivered food, music, books, school supplies, after-school activities, enrichment, tutoring, medical assistance, and much more to Anson children and their families over the years.
Like the littlest engine, the volunteers have given children what they need, Ryan said. “So this little engine climbs the hill, bright, shiny blue engine, and he gets there and the children are happy because they have what they need,” she said. “That’s what you made happen in Anson County, but guess what? The train has to keep moving. There are always those needs. And what we have to do as champions for children is provide that encouragement, that love, those resources, that knowledge because we believe— you believe— that children are a community’s most precious resource. Anson County is a place, the best place, to be a child and to raise a family. That’s what you’re helping make happen.”