Creative Visions CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF SERVICE On the evening of July 23, Creative Visions celebrated their 25th year of service during a fundraiser at the Olmsted Center, located on the campus of Drake University. My daughter, Celeste, and I were honored to be invited as guests by Ako Abdul-Samad, who is an Iowa State Representative, and the Chief Executive Officer of Creative Visions. The mission of Creative Visions is “To develop economically vulnerable individuals, families, and communities into becoming self-empowered, selfresponsible, and self- sufficient through education and economic empowerment.” The banquet was 25 attended by a diverse audience of community leaders and influencers who came out to support the continued work of Creative Visions. A brief description of the turnout includes business leaders, civic leaders, clergy leaders, and elected officials (to include the Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party - Hon. Ross Wilburn). I had the opportunity to speak with a number of people who I haven’t recently seen due to the current pandemic, and it was apparent that just about everyone that I chatted with was very pleased to be in attendance. In addition to celebrating the 25th anniversary of Creative Visions, it was also a celebration of the 70th birthday of Representative Ako AbdulSamad. by Gary Lawson Representative Ako Abdul-Samad 33
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