Women in Focus Celebrates Its 40th I Have a Dream Ball: Realizing Dr. King’s Beloved Community
Marsann McCants was “drafted” by Verona Morgan to help with the Women in Focus Dream Ball in 2021 during COVID and has been active ever since.
by Jonathan Gramling
The beauty of Women in Focus is its diversity. Founded over 40 years ago by a group of mainly African American women, it has grown into an impactful organization diverse in race, occupation and age, all united by Dr. King’s dream of a Beloved Community. And it is that diversity of age that will ensure that it continues its important community work for ages to come.
The crown jewel of Women in Focus is its annual I Have a Dream Ball held on the Saturday night before the King Holiday. And even during COVID, the Dream Ball was held. And one of the organizers was Marsann McCants.
McCants lives in Columbus and is retired from the military and after civilian stints at Wil-Kil Pest Control and KellyMoss Motor Sports. One could say that McCants was “drafted” into Women in Focus.
“Verona Morgan volunteered her daughter Carolyn and me at the same time,” McCants said. It was actually during the COVID years. Our big fundraiser is our Dream Ball, which we have every year. The year we had the Dream Ball during COVID, no one knew whether we were going to be able to hold it. They still wanted to do fundraising. They still wanted to give out scholarships. And we were trying to figure out what we could do in place of an in-person event. So we came up with the concept of Keeping It Virtual. But how do you hold a banquet virtually for 300 people? And so Verona voluntarily told us to come on board because Carolyn and I had both finished working with the VFW post. She was the commander and I was her vice-commander. When we were done with that role, Verona recruited us to help them out with that virtual ball.”
This year, McCants is co-chair with Jacquline Santana, retired from the Wisconsin Air National Guard, who is currently an administrative officer with the FAA. And again, they will be serving under a command.
“Verona will be our general,” McCants said. “We all follow orders. The executive draws the boundaries of what we can do. And as a team,
we all come up with ideas. As a matter of fact, this year, we’re doing a casino theme. And I brought that from KellyMoss because they have their own event, what they call Monte Carlo Night. It’s actually a week before our event. KellyMoss had pretty good success with it. We wanted to try it. We wanted to try something different.”
“ It starts at 5:30 and we’ll have 2-3 hours reserved for the gaming. The “casino” will be laid out in the area overlooking Lake Monona at the back of Monona Terrace.
“We’ll have 20 gaming tables,” McCants said. “It’ll be a pretty fun event. It’s for entertainment purposes only. What happens is when people come to the event, they get a $500 voucher. It gets exchanged for chips. And then they use them to game. There is no harm, no foul. If you lose your chips, it’s okay. But at the end of the gaming portion, you can exchange your chips for a raffle ticket with a chance to win a prize. For those people who don’t game, they still receive the $500 voucher and they can exchange it for a raffle ticket. They still have a chance to win something.”
There will be food available during the gaming portion of the event.
“When you go to the casino, there is a buffet,” McCants said. “It’s not a traditional banquet where you get a plate and the entree is chicken. With our buffet, there will be something for everyone. There will be vegan options and regular options. Just about everything will be available. We tried to make sure that we covered all bases.”
Once the gaming end, the night’s program will begin.
“Maia Pearson is our keynote speaker,” McCants said. “She’s on the Madison Metropolitan School District Board. She was actually a recipient of a Women in Focus Scholarship in 2006. We try to bring back people who have benefited from the scholarships. When we are investing in our community and our own, look at what they can do. She will be the only guest speaker. We have some other things on the agenda, but I want to keep them as a surprise. Brandon Taylor from WKOW is our master of ceremonies. He will kind of shepherd the event. He did it last year for us too.”
And then the evening of dancing will begin with music provided by DJ Michel Flores.
People traditionally come dressed to the nines.
“It is a formal event, but everyone is welcome no matter how you dress,” McCants said. “The whole objective is to raise funds for children here in Dane County.”
And Women in Focus does serve the children of Dane County well.
“We still work with the families on Third Street in the YWCA,” McCants said. It’s a literacy program. We partnered with the Madison Reading Project that bought the books for us. We also work with them at Juneteenth. They bring the Bookmobile. The kids come in and pick out a book. It’s awesome. Parents who read to their kids create a bond. But it also sparks their interest in books and reading. We see it not just as a way to get kids in reading, but also learning about Women in Focus with the hope that they continue their educational efforts.”
And McCants knows personally how important it is to have those reading resources available.
“It is important that they learn the reading fundamentals,” McCants emphasized. “Reading comprehension is a skill that needs to continue. I always talk about when I was a kid and my dad invested in World Book Encyclopedias. People went door to door selling them. That was a huge investment for our family. We had eleven kids, four girls and seven boys. Thar was a big investment. But reading those books expanded my mind beyond what I saw in front of me. There was a whole new world out there, a big world, way bigger than what I could see. It made me want to see it. And we didn’t have to go to the library. We had the library right at home.”
And of course there are the scholarships. During the last 40 years, Women in Focus has given out 482 scholarships worth more than $900,000. They hope to his the 500 and $1 million mark this year. McCants is inspired by the students.
“In the spring we give scholarship awards at a luncheon,” McCants said. “It is amazing. These kids are on fire. They are going to grow up and change the world. I promise you they will. They are amazing.”
While the original founders of Women in Focus have died, the longevity of Women in Focus is a testament to their values and service to the community.
“I think it is important to know that the founders had a vision,” McCants said. “And with that vision, they wanted to go far beyond their time and space. And they created a foundation that allows us to do that. So Women in Focus will be around in perpetuity because of that vision. They should be commended and the way to do that, to recognize them and also support that vision, come to the Dream Ball. Buy that ticket, come to the Ball and help us celebrate the 40 years of legacy and impact.”
Be a part of the vision of Dr. King and the Women in Focus for a better future for our youth and our community. Be a part of the Dream Ball.