The theme for this year’s Unity Breakfast, hosted by the Hopkinsville-Christian County Human Rights Commission, was “Humility, Unity, Peace”—and the community certainly reflected those themes at the Bruce Convention Center Thursday morning.
From performances by the Christian County High School Treble Choir to the singing of a Hindu prayer by student Avishi Shah, a Land Acknowledge remembering the Native American tribes that called this area home and a benediction by Father Emmanuel Udoh from Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, the Unity Breakfast brought folks from all walks of life together. And it was a full house at the convention center.
HRC Executive Director Raychel Farmer says the theme for this year’s breakfast is an important one to remember in a world that often seems to celebrate the opposite.
The keynote speaker was Christian Circuit Judge Andrew Self, who spoke on the parable of the Good Samaritan as told by Jesus, where Jesus guided everyone to love thy neighbor. He says while people regularly speak at length about all the individuals in that story, very little is spoken about the man who was robbed at the beginning of the tale.
He says Jesus didn’t clarify if the man who was robbed—the one who needed the help of those passing by on the side of the rode to Jericho—was good or bad, rich or poor, Christian or not, because it didn’t matter. Judge Self says it doesn’t matter because we are guided to love our neighbor, regardless of their ethnicity, their political beliefs, religion or anything in between.
Numerous awards were presented at the breakfast, starting with the Volunteer of the Year Award, which was awarded to Lisa McGee. Then, the Bernard Standard of Excellence Award was presented posthumously to Brandon Oldham, who had been nominated for the award, but was killed in a motorcycle crash in September 28.
His family accepted the award in his honor, with his father saying Brandon lived his life with kindness and love, and Christian County has returned that love ten-fold.
The prestigious Hal and Bettye Thurmond Award went to Dr. Jeff Riggs and Campanile Productions, recognizing their efforts to bring together humanity through the humanities. Dr. Riggs thanked everyone for their support of Campanile, saying they work to make something bigger than themselves.
Three Unity Awards were presented this year from the City of Hopkinsville, the City of Oak Grove and Christian County Government. For Hopkinsville, the Unity Award went to Aaron McNeil House, Oak Grove’s Unity Award went to Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel, and the Christian County Unity Award was presented to Bluegrass Learning Academy Principal Carrie Caples.