In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, community leaders, elected officials and eastern North Carolina residents came together for the 27th annual Community Unity Breakfast, hosted by the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
The event brings together the community to reflect upon the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while celebrating and expanding diversity initiatives in Greenville and Pitt County.
As a sponsor of the event, ECU Health had an opportunity to present a speaker during the event. Brian Floyd, chief operating officer of ECU Health and president of ECU Health Medical Center, represented the system and shared a few words.
Floyd said that events like this are closely aligned with ECU Health’s mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina because it focuses on bringing everyone together and supporting those around you.
“Your well-being is attached to much more than your clinical and scientific makeup,” Floyd said. “You can’t be well if you’re socially isolated. You can’t be well if you don’t have the means to support yourself and your family. You really can’t be well if you have no way to help those around you. So our mission, as complicated as it is, is to make people and communities better. This community comes alongside us and helps us do that as well. We all can participate in what others are doing to improve our society, to improve how people come together, and work together to love and support each other.”
Floyd also highlighted his appreciation for ECU Health’s close collaboration with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, and the relationships with other colleges, universities and high schools. He said the opportunity to develop and grow talent within the system is something he is proud of as well.
All of this leads to a great financial impact on the region, Floyd said, and that can go a long way to effect positive change in the lives of residents in the East.
“We know that education is important to the fabric of society and the wellness of people and the socioeconomic conditions of eastern North Carolina require us to do something about that,” Floyd said. “We’re fortunate that we can stimulate the economy of eastern North Carolina by more than $4 billion per year. That’s not just money – it’s hope, it’s a way to get started, it’s a way to support your family. When you put all of that together, the pillars of what we’re doing for eastern North Carolina, that’s the difference we can make.”
Pastor Eve C. Rogers, senior pastor at New Dimensions Community Church, gave the keynote address for the event. Chad Tucker, director of Volunteer Services at ECU Health Medical Center, serves as co-chair of the Community Unity Planning Committee and introduced Pastor Rogers during the event.
Pastor Rogers spoke on the importance of standing up to injustices in our communities to help create a future everyone can be proud of. She said showing up for the marginalized members of our communities is a responsibility we all carry.
“As we run and purse this race of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, I provoke you to show up with soul-force,” Pastor Rogers said. “Exercise and put into plan the opportunity that God gives you, day after day, season after season, time after time again, to show up and do what is right, fair and equitable.”
