MANSFIELD, Ohio –“This is about our children and making a better life for our kids,” Rev. Derek Williams said as the “Each One Reach One” Rally prepared to step off in downtown Mansfield Saturday. Rhonda Sylvester, also known as DJ Flip, provided music and made announcements. She estimated that over 700 people attended the rally.
Mayor Tim Theaker’s opening remarks from the central park gazebo echoed Williams’ commitment to children.
“The youth are our road map to the future and we’ve got to make sure that we make this city a safer place and a great place,” Theaker said. “We want to make sure that this march doesn’t go unmentioned, that this march doesn’t go without cause. This march is to fight drugs and to fight violence.”
Coalition inspiration and WMFD news ancho Brigitte Coles introduced the speakers. Speakers for the rally were Donna Fleming, Brother Richard X, Teaira Ross, and Mike Noser. The speakers shared how their lives are different today, stories from bullying, to growing up with a single parent, to overcoming drug use.
Ross, a Mansfield student, spoke about love from a parent. “Kids need love because if they don’t get it now in their childhood, it can result in bullying because they see other kids getting that love; and they want it. It makes them feel better to bully someone else.”
Richard X spoke next, encouraging listeners to be active in the community. He explained that he grew up with an absent father who was incarcerated. His mother struggled.
“I want to challenge us all to set up some protocols in our own life. Let’s start back with when grandma and grandpa were around. We all need at least one meal together; we would have dinners together. So that’s a start,” Richard said. “Go back to your church, go back to your organization, go back to your husband or wife and challenge them to help get involved.”
Fleming had a message of hope for recovering from addiction.
“On August the 13th I celebrated three years of being clean,” Fleming said, receiving considerable applause. “My life has changed since 2012. I have been through so much in my life and I felt like giving up but God had other plans for me.”
She went on to explain that now she has her life back, and she takes care of her children, grandchildren and her mother.
“I want to encourage everyone who is recovering from an addition: Never give up. Don’t be ashamed at what you’re going through or what you’ve been through. You have a reason to live and a purpose in life….You can make a difference in lives,” Fleming said.
The final speaker was Noser, who said he grew up in Lexington. As Coles said when she introduced him, “Mike has an amazing testimony that will touch your lives.”
“I’m giving my testimony because I tried to commit suicide and I failed. I shot myself in the face with a shotgun and that was after years of drug abuse,” Noser said. He lost his nose and his left eye as a result of the suicide attempt.
He said he started using drugs as a teenager and started with marijuana, but went on to use cocaine, heroin, and then prescription drugs.
“It’s been a good six or seven years since I attempted the suicide, and I was blessed that God kept me alive and kept me from doing any substances,” Noser said. “My parents, my friends, and my family, they’ve all be affected by my drug abuse. I repent, and I hope that they understand.”
Many organization participated in Saturday’s event.
“We’ve been part of the Mend Mansfield Coalition from the beginning,” said Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page. “We promised we would follow this to the very end, so we’re here participating, giving handouts, and showing everybody in the community we’re here to support them in any way that we can.”
The event included the shoe give-away organized by the Mend Mansfield Coalition. School supplies and backpacks were also given away. The free items were distributed in the Mansfield Municipal building and a long line formed with children and their parents hoping to receive some of the supplies.
The backpacks for the give-away were provided by Gateway Resource Center, said Lisa Kegley. She said they provided some of the school supplies, but more given by other agencies. Donations are collected through the Prayer and Praise Christian Network. Next year, she said, they will be even better prepared with more backpacks to give.
“I’m an evangelist, and I’m here to help out the kids today,” Kegley said. She is a member of Evangelists for Christ. She organized volunteers who were painting children’s faces during the rally.
Williams thanked the staff of Mend Mansfield Coalition, the Mansfield Police Department, Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Brian Garverick and members of Mansfield City Schools school district, and Mansfield Senior High athletes who participated in the event.
He also recognized coalition agencies who participated included Catalyst Life Service, which provided hotdogs and bottled water; the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office that provided free items; the Richland County Health Department; Light our City churches, and Gateway Resource Center, which provided the school backpacks and other items including face painting for the children.
