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| 100% of Matthews Alive proceeds go to benefit Matthews-area non-profits. | |
Press & Media
Matthews Alive Parade Marshal Selected
Date: August 3, 2010
Contact:
R. Jayson Johnston,
Executive Director, Matthews Alive, Inc.
704- 321-7275 ext. 322
MATTHEWS, NC:
The Matthews Alive Board of Directors is pleased to have Nate Huggins as the 2010 Matthews Alive Grand Marshal. Nate is the Executive Director of Blessed Assurance Adult Day Care located in Matthews.
The Matthews Alive Labor Day Parade will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 4. The parade is the largest in the Southeast and features over 20 floats and 100 entries. The parade travels through downtown Matthews from Matthews-Mint Hill Road to Matthews United Methodist Church on Trade Street.
“Nate is the consummate example of this year’s Matthews Alive theme, which is celebrating our volunteers,” said Matthews Alive! Chairperson Jim Sander. “Every minute of every day volunteers are serving people in our Town. Hundreds of people are making a difference in our community and we want to celebrate our volunteers and their importance.”
One of the things that makes Matthews Alive a special festival is proceeds from the festival go back to approximately 30 local nonprofit organizations whose volunteers work at the festival.
A strong senior advocate and perpetual volunteer, Nate is a member of the National Adult Day Care Association, the North Carolina Adult Day Care Association, a founding member of the Mecklenburg County Adult Day Care Association, former board member of the Mecklenburg Parkinson's Association, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Aging Coalition, Mecklenburg County Home and Community Care Block Grant Committee, and Mecklenburg Area Resource Network. He is a current member of the Mecklenburg County Transportation Advisory Board, member of the Matthews and Mint Hill Chambers of Commerce, Matthews Special Needs Advisory Committee, Matthews Civitan Club and Chair person of the Matthews Human Services Council.
Nate Huggins and his wife Vivian have two children (Navondria and Demorio) and have been Matthews residents for 22 years. Although natives of St. Matthews, South Carolina, Nate and his family moved to Matthews, from Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1988 while he was serving as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army. Armed with a Master's Degree in Business, having served at various levels of government in the military as a Human Services Director/Adjutant and having the desire to fill a Godly void in his life, Nate honorably left the military in 1992 and began serving in the ministries of several area churches. Shortly afterwards, the ministry of healing, deliverance and salvation led him to enroll in Carolinas Healthcare School of Nursing in Charlotte, where he became one of their oldest Registered Nurse graduates.
During nursing school Nate found his passion, helping people recover and lead productive lives. He spent the next six years working in every hospital in Mecklenburg, Union and Anson Counties, a number of nursing homes, specialty health facilities and he gained an abundance of extremely valuable experience that God would later use to produce a ministry that the community badly needed, yet never had.
In 1997, Nate was divinely inspired to put his management and health care experience to work for the services of God. Through much prayer, the vision to serve the day time needs of our community's frail elderly, mentally and physically challenged and otherwise disabled adults was born. Through collaboration with dozens of area churches, the Matthews Human Services Council, Matthews and Mint Hill Town Mayors and Commissioners, Mecklenburg and Union County Council on Aging, Area Mental Health Departments and Departments of Social Services; thousands of local residents were identified as either being underserved or not served. Additionally, thousands of caregivers were struggling to find an affordable alternative to long term care, institutionalization, a program that would promote their loved one's limited independence, a service that would empower caregivers to continue employment and a program that would support their loved one's desire to age in place.
Blessed Assurance Adult Day Care was born on January 1998 as a North Carolina nonprofit entity serving the day time needs of once productive community residents who are now adversely affected by Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's, ALS, Cerebral Palsy, Down's Syndrome, multiple sclerosis, brain injuries, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart irregularities, mental retardation, autism and various other diseases. Since opening in a 2,400 square feet store front, Blessed Assurance has won numerous community awards for excellent service, saved dozens of lives, help stabilized hundreds of families, filled multiple voids in our community's infrastructure, expanded its operations.
The program has expanded and relocated to a much larger facility on 1.3 acres of land and is currently raising funds to build a 5,000 square feet addition (estimated cost $750,000) to accommodate 50 more special needs adults. Behind all of its success the program is driven to respond to the community’s needs by Nate and his family.
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Labor Day Weekend |
Town Ordinance 91A-31
Alcohol is not permitted
For the safety of you and others:
- - No Firearms or Weapons
- - No Bicycles, Skateboards, Rollerblades or other wheeled recreational items
