PHOTO | IZZY PARK

The UNCF Charlotte Mayor's Masked Ball will honor longtime Charlotte leaders Harvey Gantt and Hugh McColl on March 19.

The UNCF Charlotte Mayor’s Masked Ball is returning to an in person gathering to honor a pair of towering figures in the city’s history.

The eighth annual benefit gala on March 19 at the Westin Hotel will celebrate former Mayor Harvey Gantt and his wife Lucinda and retired Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl and his wife Jane. They’ll be presented the UNCF Masked Award during the two-hour program. COVID-19 health protocols will be in place to help ensure the safety of all those attending.
Proceeds will benefit students who lack the financial support to enroll and get through college.

“It is so easy to get behind an organization that is dedicated to the education and development of our youth,” Mayor Vi Lyles said in a statement. “They really are our future, and thanks to UNCF, we are providing them with the resources needed to thrive and grow into our leaders of tomorrow.”

UNCF, the largest and most effective minority education organization in the United States, supports 37 private historically Black colleges and universities and advocates for minority higher education. Charlotte's Johnson C. Smith University and Livingstone College in Salisbury are among its member schools.

“The Mayor’s Masked Ball continues to serve as a platform to raise urgently needed funds so that we can continue to invest in the lives of students across the state of North Carolina,” said Tiffany Jones, UNCF’s area development director. “Because of the pandemic, our students need us now more than ever, so this year our goal is to raise more than $1 million. Without support from UNCF, many of our most promising future leaders would not have the opportunity to get a quality education.”

Said Michael Lomax, UNCF’s president and CEO: “For more than 77 years, UNCF has fueled HBCUs with vital resources to educate generations of African American and other minority students. During an unprecedented time in our history compounded by COVID-19 and racial disparities, our students and institutions are faced with enormous challenges now more than ever.

“We are at risk of washing away a generation of talented and deserving African American and minority students. We need as many donations as possible right now because the students we help now will be our next generation of doctors, nurses, biologists, virologists, epidemiologists — the pandemic frontliners of the future.”

To register or donate:

UNCF.org/CharlotteMMB

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