Q&A: Earl Stafford and The People’s Inaugural Project
Stafford
BlackEnterprise.com talked with Stafford about why he chose to begin the project, through his family's Stafford Foundation, how this occasion calls for a focus on "the people," and how you can become a participant, volunteer, or contributor.
BlackEnterprise.com: What led you to put together such an inaugural package, and why?
Earl Stafford: What we’re doing is reaching out to those who are not only financially disadvantaged, but our wounded veterans, battered women, and others. We want to have a cross section of Americans. We are also reaching out to the elderly and our disadvantaged young people. Being a Christian, I was inspired by the Lord to do something. As early as last March, the idea first came to me. My expectation was to do something small to get some of the homeless and disadvantaged there. We’d find their hotel suite and view the parade and do some good.
How much interest have you gotten from the American public since this has been publicized?
It’s been overwhelming. Almost every organization I deal with has gotten calls with people saying, ‘How can I contribute?' … It shows that there are people out there who are hurting, and there are a lot of people out there of good will—people who want to contribute …We’ve gotten almost 2,000 responses already—from people who want to attend, who want to nominate [participants], as well as people who want to contribute and volunteer. The interest has become international as well.
What are some of the events part of the package that participants will be attending?
Monday, Jan. 19 we’re having the Inaugural People’s Prayer Breakfast. We are going to bring in people of all religions, races, cultural backgrounds… There will be people there who have millions in the bank and [some with] only pennies in their pockets. We’re going to bring this together so that we can pray for the people. We want to pray for our country, and we want to come together to pray for our President-elect Barack Obama.
What are the criteria to be chosen to participate or be invited to experience this?
We are reaching out to and collaborating with the National Urban League, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and other organizations. We are reaching out to the Department of Defense to identify some wounded veterans. We feel that those who can best select are those who are actually serving those people in the community. So we’re reaching out to hospitals and
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Janell, I’m so grateful that you and BlackEnterprise.com thought this story newsworthy. In this day and age it can seem almost too good to be true to hear about someone doing something so magnanimous, especially in this economy. I thank you for asking the questions I’d ask Mr. Stafford.
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PLEASE PLEASE TO ATTENTION TO MR EARL STAFFORD
VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE. THANK YOU
sono l’impiegata di una ditta italiana. lavoro 8 ore al giorno e guadagno 850 euro al mese. io e i miei fratelli abbiamo creato questa azienda dal niente, costruiamo cilindri oleodinamici e morse per le macchine per perforazione. ora il lavoro e’ calato veramente tanto e i debiti ci stanno soffocando. io lo so’ che forse mi credera’ pazza, ma le scrivo per chiederle un’aiuto. ho sentito che lei ascolta i problemi delle persone. puo’ aiutare la mia azienda a non morire? abbiamo anche 13 dipendenti. la ringrazio qualsiasi sia la sua risposta. mi scuso anche per il fatto che scrivo in italiano ma non conosco bene l’inglese.
che dio la benedica. STEFANIA OLIVETTI
VIA APOLLONIO 6
25012 CALVISANO (BS) ITALY
E-MAIL stefi.blanche@libero.it
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please
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You are very kind and I’m so happy for those people.THANKS
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Do you only help the black community? Iunderstand truely but my husband and I are dire straights,we’re both disabled we decide over money for meds or food.
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