2024 EVENTS

Beans & Cornbread Annual Luncheon

A Second Chance Requires a Firstep

Thursday, October 10, 2024

11:30 – 1PM

St. Luke’s Methodist Church

222 NW 15th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73013

Beans & Cornbread 2023 wrapped up

As the curtain falls on another incredible chapter of our annual fundraiser, Beans and Cornbread 2023 Legacy Luncheon, we can’t help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude. It was an amazing year thanks to all of you! We had an amazingly successful fundraiser while also having a great time and breaking bread with everyone in attendance. The stories and truths shared were life changing, inspirational, and truly special. Thank you to everyone who attended, donated, and wished us well! Our loyal and passionate supporters are what makes our organization special.

Our sponsors and donors aren’t just names on a banner; they are the pillars upon which our event stands tall. Your generosity and belief in our cause have empowered us to reach new heights and continue our mission of increasing sobriety, decreasing incarceration, and recovering lives.

Let’s look forward to another year of increasing sobriety, decreasing incarceration and recovering lives.

why beans & cornbread? a short history

The OKC Metro Alliance, Inc. was founded in 1973 to administer the Public Inebriate Alternative (PIA) sobering center in downtown Oklahoma City. Persons brought into PIA have a 10 hour detention period where they are fed a hearty meal of beans and cornbread and provided a safe and clean place to “sleep it off”. Beans and cornbread has remained a staple of OKC Metro Alliance since its founding as we continue to serve meals to people during their stay and in a to-go bag to individuals that may not be able to get another meal elsewhere. It’s a warm, hearty, comforting, homecooked meal that provides not only nutritious necessities, but also a sense of comfort and stability.

Naturally, Beans & Cornbread was a fitting name for the OKCMA annual fundraiser. The luncheon aims to build community among our supporters, bring awareness to our mission of impacting the community, share stories of strength, and to of course have a meal that has long been a staple of Oklahoman cuisine.

photos & Video from beans & Cornbread 2023

Photography courtesy of Photographed by: Makenzie

thank you to our sponsors

Business Members of the South OKC Chamber of Commerce

Tania Smith

Susan Edwards

Jan Brown

John Thompson & Sugar Good-Thompson


Clay Bennett

Barbara Young

Beller Family Foundation

Peggy Kates

Connie Weber

photos from beans & Cornbread 2022

Past keynote speaker

Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson

Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson was a first-round draft pick linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys. He is regarded as one of the best linebackers in NFL history, playing in Super Bowls and becoming a Pro Bowl player. However, his partying lifestyle and drug addiction soon brought him down, leading to incarceration. He lost it all—his job, family, and friends. Somewhere along the way, he even lost himself.

Fortunately, in 1983, Thomas’ life began to slowly change. He established a new way of living with the help of therapy and 12-step recovery programs. Today, he travels the world sharing his story of recovery. Thomas has devoted his new life to prevention, recovery, and sobriety. Thomas has made major educational impacts in communities, children’s lives, prisons, and much more. His goal is to share his story of hope, courage and change while letting people know that recovery is possible.

CONTACT FIRSTEP

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