Think and Do: Black Salute Addresses Social Injustices
Rashawn King has been a part of the the Recreation Resources Service team in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management since August 2019. As a Recreation Consultant, King serves a 25-county region of central North Carolina. He also serves on the departmental Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, and is a member of the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board.
During the summer of 2020, the impact of the pandemic combined with social injustices close to home, led King to seek ways to provide for his community. He looked beyond what many would do and created a non-profit organization to serve citizens of Southeast Raleigh.
Black SALUTE (Strong Aligned Leaders United to Evolve) was created to to provide and exemplify unbreakable, unchangeable, and invincible leaders.
“We strive to foster more vibrant services to the community,” explains King. “Being the community champion, we plan to enhance and enrich the community environment by developing sustainable partnerships with local non-profits.
Since forming in September 2020, Black Salute has positively impacted Southeast Raleigh community members through the following events:
- Pass-a-Mask: The goal of this event was to pass out 1,000 masks while educating community members the importance of protecting themselves and others from COVID-19. To quote King, “COVID-19 has impacted the lives of so many people within my community. As a leader for my community I made a commitment to God and myself that I was going to help save the lives of the people within Southeast Raleigh as this community had the highest coronavirus cases in Raleigh.” The Salute team of volunteers coordinated the event at the Garner YMCA as a drive through or walk up to pick up the number of masks needed.
- Trunk-a-Treat Halloween celebration: Salute partnered with the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Sanderford Community Center to pass out candy to the kids in the community. Dressed in costumes the volunteers gave away candy to all community members as they drove through.
- Breaking Bread food giveaway: Over two Saturdays in November, Salute collected donations and partnered with catering and other area businesses to give away more than 600 plates of food.
- Jingle Jangle Toy Giveaway: This event was held at the Garner Road Community Center where close to 600 toys were given away by Santa and his helpers. Another COVID safe event, this drive through activity served many kids and families just before the holidays. Rashawn shared that, “Every kid on the planet deserves a gift under the tree. I am happy that we were able to provide toys to the kids. It brought joy to my heart to see every kid that pulled up with their parents smile.
King’s leadership in organizing Black Salute by bringing together volunteers to make these events a success, showcases his contributions to his local community. He has a passion to serve and improve the places we live, work and learn. King also regularly inspires his co-workers and brings an infectious smile and energy to any meeting – in person or virtual. He represents the Think and Do attitude of the Wolfpack.
