Claflin University to Host UNCF Community Prayer Breakfast Oct. 4
Oct 01, 2014
Claflin University is inviting the community to support scholarships for deserving students at its annual UNCF Community Prayer Breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday, October 4, 2014, in the Tullis Arena of the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Suffragan Bishop Michael C. Butler of Victory Tabernacle Deliverance Temple of the Apostolic Faith. Butler was elected as the city of Orangeburg’s first African-American mayor in 2013. He is a 1983 graduate of Claflin University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in education.
The University holds a campaign every year to raise funds for the UNCF, the nation’s largest and most successful financial assistance organization for minority students in higher education. Over the past 29 years, Claflin has either met or surpassed its UNCF fundraising goal. For every dollar Claflin contributes to the UNCF via the campaign, the University receives a return of nearly 30 percent from the organization.
Claflin held its annual Community, Business, Industry and Friends Luncheon in April to kick off its 2014 UNCF campaign. Since 1984, the University has raised $1,221,392.63 for the UNCF. This year’s goal is $60,000. The campaign culminates November 30 each year.
Butler, a career specialist at the Technology Center in Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5, is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He completed graduate courses at South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina, and obtained his master of education degree from Walden University in 2006.
He has been an elementary school teacher, a middle school assistant principal, a social services case manager, an HIV counselor and an employee of South Carolina State University.
In 1978, Butler established a Bible study that eventually grew into Victory Tabernacle Deliverance Temple of the Apostolic Faith. He has pastored the church for more 23 years.
Tickets to the UNCF Community Prayer Breakfast are $15. Sponsorships are available for $250 and include a table for 10 guests. To RSVP no later than October 1, call 803-535-5312.