Dr. Ben Carson to Address Boys & Girls Club Youths in Joppa

Dr. Ben Carson will address the young people from Aberdeen, Bel Air, Havre de Grace and Edgewood who will be honored Wednesday during the Boys & Girls Club 21st Annual Steak & Burger Dinner.

The dinner, which treats the kids to the steaks and the adults to the burgers, is expected to draw about 500 people to the New Life Center at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa for the 6:30 p.m. affair.

Vi Ripken, a Boys & Girls Clubs board member who has worked with the event since its inception, said Carson’s life story should inspire the young people.

“I hope they take away the message that it doesn’t matter where you come from, it is what you put into it,” Ripken said in a prepared statement. “Having a caring adult or group of adults will help you along the way. You may not become a surgeon but you can become an upstanding member of the community.”

Carson has been the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for more than 25 years. His success came from a blend of youthful passion for reading, big dreams and his mother’s tough love.

Louis and Phyllis Friedman, who own Stack & Store Mini Storage with locations in Aberdeen, Edgewood and Joppa, donated Carson’s honorarium.

“It is exactly the message that Boys & Girls Club members should hear,” the Friedmans said in the statement.

“Dr. Carson represents a model for the ability to succeed when you don’t have everything handed to you on a silver platter,” Phyllis Friedman said. “He is also a model for values. This is a man whose primary goal in life is to help other people.”

Individuals can attend the event for $50. Organizations can sponsor a table for $500. For more information, call the Boys & Girls Club at 410-272-0010.