Women of Grace turn focus on men’s health

ALBANY — The local Women of Grace Foundation was founded on a vision based on the power of women to help others through their shared relationship with God.

It might seem ironic, then, that the Women of Grace have put together plans for the week leading up to Father’s Day (June 19) that will specifically benefit men.

The Women of Grace Connection will present Auctions & Avocados Saturday at the Albany Civic Center Ballroom, capping their “Men’s Health Week” events that they’re calling “Planting Seeds for Healthy Living.”

The highlight of the week is an appearance by Food Network celebrity chef and “Chef to the Stars” Jerome Brown, known to his many famous clients and his Food Network “Extreme Chef” fans as “Chef Rome.”

Brown’s appearance will include information about healthy cuisine, with emphasis on the avocado, and cooking demonstrations. The celebrity chef’s appearance will be high-energy and include music from DJ Reggie Marcus.

“Chef Rome has been a good friend of mine for years, and when I told him about what we were doing he said he’d love to come and be a part of it,” Women of Grace co-founder and Actions and Avocados planner Talia Ashley said. “He has a lot of fans in our area who’ve seen him on TV or heard him on the radio. We’re so excited he’s going to be a part of our Men’s Health Week events.”

Indeed, Brown will take part in the noon Thursday Ties That Bind event that is being sponsored by the family of retiring NFL star Ricardo Lockett at Phoebe Northwest. Thursday evening, Brown will join Albany Technical College Chef Todd White and offer private sessions and cooking demonstrations with Albany Tech and Turner Job Corps culinary students.

On Friday, Brown will be part of an evening mixer for invited guests at the Hilton Garden Inn from 6:30-8:30 p.m. On Saturday morning, he will give a brief talk during a Phoebe Works health screening event, and Saturday night starting at 7 p.m., he will be the star of the Auctions & Avocados fundraiser at the Civic Center.

“We came up with the idea to do a men’s health event leading up to Father’s Day, and initially we were thinking about an eligible bachelor’s auction only,” Women of Grace’s Cecillia “CeCe” Morris, Ashley’s mother, said. “We decided to focus the event around the health aspects of the avocado. Then Darrell Sabbs and Angie Barber at Phoebe, who is one of the trailblazers for improving community health, heard about what we were doing and wanted to tie it in with their men’s health screenings.

“Word got out to Albany Tech and Turner Job Corps about Chef Jerome’s involvement, and they wanted in. It kind of took on a life of its own.”

In addition to the cooking demonstrations by Chef Jerome, Saturday’s event at the Civic Center will include silent auctions as well as a gentlemen’s auction. Audience members may use the “avocado bucks” they purchase to bid on a list of handsome gentlemen that includes a fireman, a doctor, a professional football player, an entertainer, a graphic designer and a minister.

Auction winners will get to go on 20-minute “dates” with the objects of their bidding desire, during which the bachelors will discuss men’s and women’s health issues.

“The ‘dates’ will be on location,” Ashley said, laughing. “After the gentlemen’s mini-parade, we’ll go through the bidding process. All funds from the purchase of avocado bucks used in the bidding will go toward the nonprofit benefactors of the event.

“The dates will be well-chaperoned and will involve conversations about men’s and women’s health.”

Morris said Women of Grace grew from an inspirational dream/vision that she had one day.

“I thought at first that I was dreaming, but I believe what I saw was a vision,” the semi-retired radio personality said. “I saw pages of a book turning, and on each subsequent page was one word. Put together, they said, ‘Our own best subject is purified by grace.’

“I got a strong message from that vision: God grants us grace over whatever we’re good at, but to be great we have to share what we have with others. I believe we are providing a vital service by bridging a gap between a seasoned generation and the younger generation coming behind us.”

Nanette Spencer, a nurse at Phoebe, and Evelyn Solomon, a retired health care worker, are members of the Women of Grace.

“I went to the MaryMary concert that my church was promoting, and I discovered it was being presented by an organization of women honoring women,” Spencer said. “I found out more about that organization, saw that what they did was God-based, and I wanted to be a part of it. I love the energy of this group.”

Solomon said her involvement with Women of Grace has allowed her to continue her growth, even in retirement.

“When you stop learning, you stop growing,” she said. “We’re able to use what God has given us to plant seeds that will grow and bear positive fruit.”

Brown, who started his cooking career as a teen at Gardener’s Barbecue in Rocky Mount, N.C., expanded his culinary knowledge during his travels with the U.S. Army. He was selected from among 400 applicants to become specialty chef at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., after he finished his Army career, and he created Chef to the Stars, a chef placement service that has so far placed 75 chefs in celebrities’ homes.

His “Southern meets gourmet” cooking style has won him a large following, and he’s prepared meals for President and first lady Michelle Obama, Shaquille O’Neal, Priscilla Presley, Mike Bibby, Carl Gustaf, the King of Sweden, and dozens of other athletes and celebrities.

Tickets for Auctions & Avocados, which are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, are available at Cavalier Fashions, Odyssey Records or by calling (229) 291-4954.

“We wanted to hold a fun event that was educational as well,” Ashley said. “As everyone knows, men traditionally won’t go to the doctor unless there is something seriously wrong with them. All of these events leading up to Fathers Day focus on changing that way of thinking.”