Rev. Lutimothy May celebrates his birthday today. Instead of having a big party, the pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church has asked friends to help him paint the halls of A.A. Dixon Charter School of Excellence, the inner-city school that May and others have helped turn around…the one Superintendent Malcolm Thomas tried to close, only to find out that it had the largest gains of any school in the district and that it actually out performed two of his elementary schools.
Enough about Thomas’ antics, this is a day of celebration.
Pastor May is a part of the young generation of African-American leaders that invests his time, talents and resources into the community without any personal gain. Our paper named him a “Game Changer” for his efforts.
If you want to join in the celebration but can’t get off work to paint, donate classroom supplies to the school. The school district doesn’t include Dixon in its Cram the Van campaign (of course), but their students are some of the poorest in the county.
Here are some of the supplies that you can drop off at the school –1201 North H St. Pensacola
Plastic Folders P&P
Backpacks-for grades 1 through 12
#2 Pencils
Color Pencils
Black Pens
Blue Pens
Red Pens
Eraser caps & Large pink erasers
Plastic School boxes
Washable magic markers (Thin & Fat)
Thin magic markers
Highlighters (Thin & Fat)
Crayola Crayons
Elmer’s school glue bottle & glue sticks
Rulers with centimeters & inches
Fiskars pointed scissors
3×5 index cards-lined
Folders with pockets and prongs
Spiral notebooks- wide-ruled & college-ruled
Loose wide-ruled notebook paper
Loose college-ruled notebook paper
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Note: Pastor May and his brother Lumon aren’t the only ones making a difference in the African-American community. What is encouraging is that others are also stepping out–Rev. Lonnie Wesley at Greater Little Rock Baptist Church, Rev. Charles Morris at Bethel AME, Rev. Tyler Hardeman at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Joseph Marshall at St. John Divine Baptist Church and Rev. Bernard Yates at Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church are just a few of the pastors that are catalysts for change. These men and their churches are reaching out in their neighborhoods and making positive things happen—like May without fanfare. The African-American newspaper, Pensacola Voice, virtually ignores them, but they plow ahead.
The sleeping lion is awakening.