2011 Friday Friends Festival

More than 300 people came together Thursday in Charlotte to change the world, one friendship at a time. Amid an outpouring of fellowship, with a taste of Creole shrimp as a bonus, the fourth annual Friday Friends Festival celebrated one of the city's most delicious ministries: Pairing people of different faiths, cultures, and backgrounds and asking them to share at least one lunch a month. Read more of Ken Garfield's article.

“This is always an awesome experience and a great opportunity for learning and sharing… While watching the RACE film with about 20 people, one person asked for dialogue. Anne Van Newkirk turned off the film and opened the floor for discussion. An enlightening time of sharing ensued. It was a perfect foray in which our comments and expression of feelings were welcomed and honored. It was an awesome experience.

I thank God about how the Friday Friends Festival puts us all on a more even playing field. Titles and positions are not flashed or touted and friends are accessible from all arenas. I wish we could do this more often.” -- Dori King, Friday Friends Festival attendee

A special word of thanks to our generous sponsors:

Platinum Sponsor

Crossroads Charlotte

Presenting Sponsor

Piedmont Natural Gas

Gold Sponsors

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee

Duke Energy

Nonprofit Sponsors

Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region

Levine Museum of the New South

Why We Proudly Sponsor the Friday Friends Festival

"Charlotte is proud to be a sponsor of Friday Friends. Our community's future will be stronger as people build relationships with each other across lines of difference and begin to work together to craft our future together. Friday Friends is a great way for people to begin to build these relationships and work with each other to 'imagine our tomorrow and act today' for a future we all want that is built on trust." -- Tracy Russ, Crossroads Charlotte

“Piedmont Natural Gas is proud to sponsor the fourth annual Friday Friends Festival, an event that builds relationships across cultures, religions, race and color in the Charlotte community. One of Piedmont’s core company values is “respect for others,” which involves recognizing and valuing diverse backgrounds, experiences, styles and ideas. In fact, Piedmont formed a Diversity Council in 2008, an 18-member group whose mission it is to further enhance diversity at Piedmont. It was clear that the mission and values of the Friday Friends Festival aligned with our own core values.

Diversity is now playing an ever-increasing role in Piedmont’s leadership development, internship and recruiting programs. Additionally, Piedmont employees remain actively engaged with organizations that promote diversity through development opportunities and youth programs.

As Piedmont employees, we live and work in the communities we serve. Partnering with Friday Friends gives Piedmont an avenue to get involved in the Charlotte community in a meaningful way. We are grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this program.”