Volta Club Celebrates 25th Anniversary & Fundraiser

Silver Spring, Maryland (July 22, 2009) -Volta Club Inc, one of the largest organizations in the Washington D.C. metro area comprising of Ewe-speaking people from the Volta Region of Ghana, Togo and Benin, on Saturday, July 11, 2009 celebrated its 25th anniversary with a colorful and well-attended fundraising ceremony in Silver Spring, Maryland. The event was held at the Fellowship Hall of the Colesville Presbyterian Church on New Hampshire Avenue. The theme for the celebration was “A sense of Identity and Our Heritage: Using our collective talents and skills to enlighten and uplift our community.” The objective of the fundraising ceremony was to solicit funds to open a resource center for the community. The Center is to assist students with their homework; offer computer literacy classes; and to hold workshops and seminars. The Club also plans to use the Center to design summer programs for the youth and to house a database on the history and culture of the Ewes. The ceremony was also to raise funds for a scholarship scheme to help brilliant but needy students.

The event was attended by Ghanaians, Togolese, Beninoise and other West African nationals in the D.C. metro area and friends of Volta Club in and out of the metro D.C. area. The event was also attended by Montgomery County Executive, Mr. Ike Leggett, a representative of the Benin Embassy, Mr. Prosper Bekpa-Kinhou, the Executive Director of the Council of Ewe Associations of North America (CEANA), Ms. Ivy Quarshie and her entourage, Togbui Setranah, President of the United Volta Association (UVA), Mr. Kofi Afful, Chairman of the Council of Ghanaian Associations (COGA) and representatives and leaders of Ghanaian associations in the D.C. metro area. The occasion was chaired by Togbui Egbe II (Julius Kwami-Suklui).

The youth wing of the Club, Volta Ensemble, led the royal entourage into the Hall and electrified the audience with a beautiful performance of Agbadza and Atsiagbekor traditional dances. The Ensemble also performed other traditional pieces during the evening.

In his welcoming remarks, the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Rev. Kennedy Odzafi urged members of the Club to donate generously to the opening of the resource center. He said the Club was a platform for all Ewe-speaking people in the Washington metro area to come together and work for the common good of all. In his remarks, the special guest of honor, Montgomery County Executive, Mr. Ike Leggett noted that it was heartwarming that the Club was celebrating its 25th anniversary on the same day President Barack Obama was visiting Ghana. He said watching President Obama’s address to the Ghanaian parliament filled him with great pride and made him to reflect on “how far we have come” as a people. He urged members of the Club to invest in the future of their children and in the next generation. To do so, he added, they must look forward to the future; hold steady to their spiritual faith; and maintain their tradition and cultural values. He said that while assimilation and integration into American society was important; it should not result in the loss of one’s cultural and ethnic identity. He congratulated the Club for contributing to the community and praised Rev. Odzafi for his work on the Africa Advisory Committee. He also praised the Club’s Chairman, Mr. Edwin Agbonyitor, for his distinguished service to the community.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Council of Ghanaian Associations (COGA), Mr. Kofi Afful called on all Ghanaians to unite, adding that Ghana is strong “when all the different regions, North, South, Eastern, West and Central together fight for our common interests; the common good of all Ghanaians.” He commended members of the Club for their achievements over the last 25 years and lauded the Club for its contribution to COGA and the larger community. He invited members of the Club to attend the annual COGA Unity picnic to be held on August 15, 2009 at the Prince George’s Community College, Largo Campus. He said plans were afoot this year for COGA to acquire a community center to host COGA events.

The Executive Director of the Council of Ewe Associations of North America (CEANA), Ms. Ivy Quarshie on her part, commended the executives of the Club for their accomplishments over the last 25 years. She said that the Club was instrumental in the formation of CEANA, adding that the Club hosted the first ever convention in CEANA’s history and is slated to host the 2010 convention. She praised the Club for raising the bar for other Ewe associations and urged the members of the Club to even do better when they host the CEANA convention in 2010. She also invited members of the Club to the 2009 convention to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, in September this year. She said the theme for the 2009 convention was “Educational development.” The aim specifically, she said, was to furnish the E.P. University in Ho and Peki with computers.

The Club presented special leadership awards to nine former chairmen of the Club in honor of their service to the community. Special awards were presented to Mr. Isaac Vodi, Volta Ensemble and Mrs. Georgina Nuwame for her distinguished service to the Club.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Club, Mr. Edwin Agbonyitor paid glowing tribute to the founding members and leaders of the Club for their vision and sacrifice, adding that “through their efforts and the sacrifices of many others… we have Volta Club.” He said the Club had in the past donated medical supplies to hospitals in Ghana and also awarded scholarships to needy students. He said the theme of the 25th anniversary, “A sense of Identity and Our Heritage: Using our collective talents and skills to enlighten and uplift our community,” was a call to duty. “Identifying who we are, he said, “and the values that bind us together are recipes for community upliftment.” Helping the community, he said, required “using our collective talents to advance the good cause of the community.”

He said moving to the U.S. was not easy but to succeed, one had to re-orient his or her mindset and adjust to the new society. He called on members of the Club with expertise in various areas to volunteer at the center when it is established, adding that they should emulate the example of “the two servants who multiplied their master’s treasures and not the one who did not add to what he was given.”

He thanked the Universal Evangelical Church for providing the Club with two offices for the proposed center. He said the Club needed 10 computers, tables, chairs and volunteers to get the center off the ground. He urged members to visit the Club’s website (www.voltaclub.org) which was officially launched on July 11, 2009 to find out about the Club’s calendar of events and program of activities. He said members and friends could also donate online.

He said the Club was honored to be hosting for the fourth time, the annual convention of the Council of Ewe Associations of North America, next year. The 2010 convention is scheduled to be held on September 1 - 5, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.

Mr. Agbonyitor also thanked all individuals and organizations who supported the 25th anniversary celebration and fundraising event.