LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Tonight we shine the spotlight on the Community Enrichment's Community Legacy Service Award winner.
Charles Thomas has worn many hats during his lifetime in Lima, and has always pushed for equity and inclusion. From his first day on the job in 1957 where he was the only minority in a pool of 200 employees, to his time behind the microphone at a local radio station. Thomas spent many years working with children at juvenile court, then becoming a juvenile probation officer and also working for the Lima City Schools. Working with the youth inspired him to continue his journey toward inclusion.
"I noticed most of the kids that I worked with were kids who were on the edge or on the out, feeling left out and so again that entered into my thinking that I should continue to write and promote more inclusion and get more people involved," said Charles Thomas, Community Legacy Service Award Winner.
Thomas says for kids to be able to be it, they need to see it. There is value in inclusion and acceptance and to reach this we must get to know one another. He use to close his radio broadcast each night with "Do your part to make this a better world in which we live. Make it a point to get out and get to know someone that doesn't look exactly like you look."
"We've got to get people together to get to know one another and understand one another. If we know people that don't look like us as well as we know our neighbors, then we don't have this division and this kind of conflict," explained Thomas.
Thomas and the other award winners will be recognized at the Lima Community Enrichment Dinner on Wednesday, September 21st at the Veterans Civic Center in downtown Lima.
