HUNTSVILLE — Several members of the community gathered at the Huntsville Marriott Dec. 6 to attend Energy Huntsville’s inaugural Gala for Giving Back, which spotlighted Girls Inc. of Huntsville as its first-ever honoree.

According to Energy Huntsville Executive Director Cedreck Davis, the idea for the event was born out of a desire to honor and support members of the community who are in the business of helping others and making a positive impact.

“There are a lot of people in our area that need help, and we want to grow, and we want to reach out and touch people because Huntsville is the kind of town that’s capable of [that],” Davis said. “We’re going to spend our time making a difference. That’s just what we’re wanting to do.”

After being introduced to Girls Inc. about a year and a half ago, Davis said he was “blown away” by their mission. “I actually think they are really somebody trying to do something for somebody,” he said. “It just made me feel good.”

Jeneen Horton, manager at Toyota Huntsville and president-elect of Girls Inc.’s board of directors, praised Girls Inc. for their work. She also touched on the importance of making connections in the community and supporting each other, something she has learned being a part of Toyota, Girls Inc., Energy Huntsville and the Association of Energy Engineers.

“As those organizations support each other, it just helps make a better community for Huntsville and Madison County, so I am very proud to be a part of all those organizations,” she added.

Horton also introduced Stephanie Malone, executive director of Girls Inc. of Huntsville, noting her lengthy resumé of involvement in the community, particularly in advocating for children. This includes being a former director of children’s ministry at her church and finding immense joy in her role as a mother of three children. In addition to her work with children, Malone has previously worked for former Congressman Bud Cramer and former Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer.

According to Malone, Girls Inc. has been serving girls 5-18 years old in the Huntsville area for 46 years. Girls Inc.’s overall mission is to inspire girls and young women to be “strong, smart and bold.” The organization aims to accomplish this through year-round programming, outreach initiatives and local partnerships. They also encourage adults to develop supportive and trusting relationships with girls to help them succeed in their endeavors.

Malone said Girls Inc. aims to provide their girls with at least 50 hours of programming per year. This includes after-school, fall break and spring break programs, as well as a nine-week summer program. Areas of focus include academic enrichment and support, healthy living, life skills instruction and education opportunities.

“We’re very, very heavily concentrated on our girls from kindergarten to eighth grade,” Malone said. “Those are the girls that we see year round Monday through Friday.”

Once the girls reach a certain age, the programming becomes more specialized, aiming to prepare them for postsecondary education and entering the workforce. They can also volunteer and work with the organization while they prepare to attend college.

Girls Inc. serves about 600 girls annually through their center, according to Malone, but they reach even more with their outreach programs with community centers, schools and churches. The nonprofit partners with all three school systems in the area, but Malone said Huntsville City Schools is their primary partner and the system serving the majority of their girls.

“We’re all about exposure, and we’re all about providing opportunities that the girls may not receive anyplace else,” she said.

With that, Malone announced that Girls Inc. has made it a goal of theirs to double the number of girls they serve by June 2020.

“We believe they are really the kind of organization we want to support, so we’re giving back to the community this evening as well,” said Jay Newkirk, chairman of the board at Energy Huntsville.

A guest examines options at one of the silent auction tables. | (Record Photo/Kendyl Hollingsworth)

Proceeds from the gala, including cost to attend the dinner and a silent auction, will help support the local Girls Inc. program, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is a subcomponent of the national organization. With these kinds of funds and donations, Girls Inc. is better able to serve girls like Kaitlyn Walker, a junior at New Century Technology High School who shared with attendees how the organization helped better her life.

As someone who normally kept to herself, Walker said things changed for her in summer 2014 after an opportunity arose for her to volunteer with young children. Initially, her shyness caused some doubt, but she knew she could change that with Girls Inc.

“I thought it over, and I knew that I was going to be capable to get the job done because the Girls Inc. motto is ‘strong, smart and bold,’” she said. “… It was an honor being able to inspire the young girls. I am proud to see them grow to be the outstanding girls they have become. They are part of the reason I enjoy what I do.”

Walker credited the staff at Girls Inc. for helping her get to where she is today. She also said that with the organization’s help, she has been able to step outside her comfort zone and become more comfortable through her experiences working with children, public speaking, engaging in leadership positions and meeting new people, as well as attending and participating in many events.

She also spoke of an enlightening trip she took with three other girls two years ago to the United State of Women Summit in Washington, D.C. where she had the opportunity to hear from Barack and Michelle Obama, Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes and Oprah Winfrey.

“I also knew that one day, I wanted to be someone others could look up to also,” Walker said. “With Girls Inc., I know that I can be doing this now. … I want other young girls to know they too can be strong, smart and bold.”

The evening’s keynote speaker was Donna Coleman, president and CEO of Aetos Systems Inc. Coleman also serves on the board of directors for Energy Huntsville.

Though she is not a Girls Inc. girl, Davis said he was inspired by Coleman’s story of overcoming adversity to become a success in her own right.

As she began her address, she asked attendees to ponder a saying she once heard: “The decisions you make define your situations. How you deal with those situations defines you.”

After becoming a teenage mother, Coleman faced many naysayers that she said treated her like a statistic. With the support of her parents, she elected to “do all the right things.” She decided to keep her baby and marry her high school sweetheart, who was also the father of her child. She faced difficult decisions concerning her schooling and eventually came to the conclusion that she should leave school for a semester, and with her credits she would be able to return and graduate with her class. However, a counselor expressed her deep concern that if Coleman were to leave school, she would never return.

“I’m not a statistic, and you know what? Neither are these girls (in Girls Inc.),” Coleman said. Instead of letting the woman’s words discourage her, they became a motivator for her.

Coleman kept to her plan and ended up graduating with her class. She later worked and attended Calhoun Community College full time while raising her son, and though it took her 10 years, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Athens State University and was later invited to serve on the school’s foundation board

“This girl who didn’t feel like she had a future, who had people tell her she didn’t have a future, who had other people that believed in her, who now is asked to serve on the foundation board of the college that put her in the position that she’s in now—to me, that was no greater honor,” Coleman said.

With all she has managed to accomplish in her life, Coleman also took the time to communicate to the audience how impactful words can be to young people like the girls in Girls Inc.

“What you say and what you do and how you interact with these girls and the opportunities that you provide for them—you cannot even begin to imagine the impact that it will have, whether that be positive or negative,” she stressed.

Coleman also recounted her experience working in a jewelry store when she was young, wiping down the glass cases and helping out the owner, who was in a wheelchair. She noted how the experience helped give her purpose and led to other great opportunities.

“At the time, it’s not about making money,” she said. “It’s about feeling like you have a purpose.” Coleman encouraged attendees to provide similar opportunities to young people so they may learn and grow from their experiences as she did. She added that allowing young people to volunteer and meet employees can teach them what it is like to be part of a larger organization.

As a member of Energy Huntsville, Coleman added that she is “really, really proud” to support an organization like Girls Inc.

Following Coleman’s remarks, Davis presented a sizable check to Girls Inc. to support their efforts.

In addition, the gala celebrated the Energy Huntsville initiative and its plans to restructure in the near future. Davis presented six awards to outstanding individuals involved with the initiative. The first went to Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, and the remaining five were awarded to members of Energy Huntsville for their individual contributions.

Battle launched Energy Huntsville “to protect the space and missile systems industrial technology base by focusing intellectual capital and corporate offerings on the growing energy market sector,” according to Energy Huntsville’s website. Through these actions, the initiative aims to support the area’s economic growth objectives. The website describes the organization as a volunteer-based nonprofit collaborative in which more than 200 companies are either involved in the energy market sector or redirecting their offerings to the energy sector.

“It’s about more than just bringing new technology to the city or bring new economic development activities, but it’s also about growing our capabilities,” Coleman said in her keynote address.

“Between here and 2019, we’re in the midst of restructuring where we want Energy Huntsville to go because we’re going into the next phase … we need less of the old style and more of the new technology, so we have to take these two, and we have to marry them together to accomplish what we want to,” Davis added.

For more information on Energy Huntsville or to learn how to get involved, visit energyhuntsville.com. To learn more about Girls Inc. and the organization’s work in the community, visit girlsinc-huntsville.com. Girls Inc. operates out of the Dr. Richard Showers Sr. Recreation Center, located at 4600 Blue Spring Rd. NW