Black t-shirts adorned with the statement, “I (heart) White Center” were worn proudly by hundreds of attendees at the 2010 White Center Community Summit at the White Center Heights Elementary & Educare Early Learning Center on Dec. 4.

The 8th annual summit was guided by the theme, ““White Center Promise- Uniting to Improve Our Lives and Community,” and included free workshops and resource booths on housing, health care, employment, and education in addition to a plethora of free food from local restaurants and entertainment ranging from drum circles to spoken word performances.

The White Center Community Development Association, who’s central strategy is to “create a healthier and more prosperous community by strengthening families, schools and businesses in White Center,” hosted the summit with help from sponsors, Boeing Employee Credit Union, King County Library System and Noise w/o Sound, a graphic design company out of Seattle.

Aileen Balahadia, executive director of White Center CDA, said the event is all about community building and civic engagement in diverse White Center.

“We’ve really built a reputation and tradition for gathering our community together and, because White Center is so diverse, this ends up being the kind of event that people look forward to because they get to see people of all different shades, sizes and colors coming together,” Balahadia said. “If you can’t share a meal together, really what kind of work can you do together?”

Balahadia said the summit is about more than just providing services to people.

“While we have resource booths and workshops that really help people, the angle is all about trying to get people engaged so its not just that they are passive recipients of services, but it’s, ‘Oh, I can get this service and this person is looking for a volunteer …’”

Local artist Carol Tagawa was at the summit with her paints and an easel, painting people and events that she saw throughout the day.

The summit began at 9:30 a.m. with a drum circle, which Balahadia said really brings people together, and the plan was to end the day the same way, inviting anyone interested in banging drums in unison to the stage.

“(The summit) is a chance for residents to say, ‘I’m a part of this community and I want to see success happen, so it’s not just about my success and me, but also my larger community’,” Balahadia said.

For more information on the Community Summit, email summit@wccda.org or call (206) 227-5036. For more information about the White Center CDA, visit www.wccda.org or call (206) 694-1082.