Sara White, the widow of National Football League standout Reggie White, will be guest speaker at this year's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Breakfast Jan. 19 at The Event Center, 315 Webb Road.

A broker-Realtor in Charlotte, Sara White also is president of Urban Hope in Green Bay, Wisc., where her husband starred for the Packers. She was instrumental, too, in starting the organization in the Cleveland/Canton, Ohio, area, where she grew up.

The 23rd annual Humanitarian Breakfast, organized by the Salisbury-Rowan Human Relations Council, will start with the meal at 7:30 a.m, followed by an 8 a.m. program.

Entertainment will be provided by the Catawba Madrigals.

The Event Center is located on the campus of Cornerstone Church. Cost is $7 per person.

Tickets to the Humanitarian Breakfast are available from Ruth Kennerly, city of Salisbury, at 704-638-2168; Darlene Boling, Rowan County, at 704-216-8105; or Bob Setzer, F&M Bank, 704-637-1562, ext. 217.

Tickets also are available from members of the MLK Steering Committee and the Salisbury-Rowan Human Relations Council. Food Lion is the 2009 presenting sponsor for the event.

Other sponsors include Rowan Regional Medical Center, Cornerstone Church, F&M Bank, Miller Davis Studios, Bank of North Carolina and PFLAG.

Reginald Howard "Reggie" White, nicknamed the "Minister of Defense," married the former Sara Copeland in 1985. The couple had two biological children, Jeremy and Jecolia, and also raised four other children over their 20-year marriage.

White's football expertise and ordination as a Baptist minister made him one of football's most popular players and remembered as an inexhaustible "sacker" throughout his years in college, the USFL and the NFL.

White's community work and religious work were as well-known as his reputation as one of football's greatest defensive ends.

His NFL career spanned 15 seasons and included 232 games and 198 sacks. White helped lead the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls, including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI.

White was named the 1998 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 4, 2006.

During his later years, White traveled to Israel, learned the Hebrew language and studied the Torah. White died at his home on Dec. 26, 2004, at the age of 43.

"We are sincerely honored and welcome Mrs. Sara White as keynote speaker to our annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration," Mayor Susan Kluttz said. "Dr. King had a dream. He envisioned racial harmony and acceptance for all people. He dreamed of the future possibilities for all races with opportunity to freely acquire an education, pursue a career or to serve in public office.

"He believed that success could be obtained by working together to change lives."

Kluttz said Reggie White shared a similar vision and believed in a community filled with love and acceptance.

"By embracing our differences with love, understanding, and acceptance," Kluttz said, "both of these great men guide us to explore possibilities and to expand the potential for all races. Their lives inspire us to reach beyond the limits of today, with hope for a better tomorrow."

Sara White serves on the YMCA board in Mooresville and the New Dominion Bank board in Charlotte.

She also is a spokesperson for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. She was diagnosed with MS in March 2003.

"We do not have to wait for anyone to give us permission to succeed," Sara White says.

In Charlotte, she developed a Savvy Home Buyers Club for first-time buyers and anyone else who needed additional housing education.

Some of the more entertaining things White has been involved in is having her own cooking show: "Sara on the Sidelines." She also has been interviewed on "The 700 Club"; has produced a DVD about her husband; and recently had a cameo role in the sitcom "The Game."

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Maria and Charles Copeland; who just celebrated 51 years of marriage. She married Reggie White when she was 20 and attending Memphis University, where she earned bachelor's degrees in marketing and management.

The couple met while she was a senior in high school and he was a freshman at the University of Tennessee. She often referred to Reggie as being "a mini-Dr. King" because of his ability to unite religions, economic differences and races.

Sara White served six years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve until she resigned when their second child was born. They also had custody of two teenage boys at the time.

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