Let me call the meeting in order to the Wilmington City Council like to welcome all those who are with us here this evening, all those who are watching us at home.

Thank you for taking an interest in your government.

I believe that we have Mr.

Josh Lee, the Wilmington Fire Department.

Is he here?

Please come forward to give our invocation for everyone.

We'll stand and remain standing afterwards for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Welcome, sir.

Let's pray.

Father, we just thank you for a wonderful evening together together.

Uh Lord and God, I just asked that you would help lead this meeting tonight.

God asked that you would uh give our mayor and council um the wisdom, uh Lord and guidance as they lead the city.

Um Father, I just ask God that all that are here tonight, those that are being recognized for awards, we want to thank them for all that they do.

Uh God, we just ask that you would uh give all of us a spirit of unity tonight as uh as this meeting uh takes place.

And we just thank you, and we give you honor and glory, and we thank you for all these things in Christ's name, amen.

Amen.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which we stand.

One nation under God, individual with liberty and justice for all.

Um two presentations this evening.

Well, we have actually three, but one of them has had to council because of the weather, which is our auditor that will be uh rescheduling that in the next uh meeting or two.

But our first recognition is a recognition of Ms.

Rose Tatum, who's the volunteer leadership lab and proclamation recognized in 2026 as international year of volunteers.

She'll Rose will meet me down in the front.

Each of which relies on strong partnerships between local government, nonprofit organizations, and engaged residents.

And whereas volunteers across Wilmington play a vital role in advancing these priorities by supporting disaster preparedness and recovery, strengthening housing and education initiatives, promoting public health, development workforce skills, protecting natural and cultural resources, and expanding the capacity of nonprofit and public sector organizations, and whereas local efforts to strengthen volunteer systems, including shared platforms, coordinated engagement strategies, and the development of an annual volunteer impact report can help inform city and nonprofit planning, guide strategic investment, support equity and volunteer access, and demonstrate the measurable values of volunteerism to Wilmington's long-term sustainability.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Wilmington City Council, we do hereby recognize 2026 as international year of volunteers for sustainable development in Wilmington, North Carolina.

And just say Rose, thank you for everything folks do.

And uh turn the microphone over to you.

Thank you, Mayor Sappho.

And thank you, Council members.

Um, thank you for recognizing the role volunteers play in the life of our city.

This proclamation highlights how volunteers are essential to uh advancing Wilmington's strategic priorities.

The impact flows in every direction from nonprofits to local government to hospitals, boards, civic organizations, and neighborhood level action.

Volunteers are a driving force but behind sustainable progress in Wilmington.

These acts, both big and small, are the quiet infrastructure that holds our community together.

Volunteering improves individual well-being, reducing stress and loneliness, strengthening purpose, building skills, and creating meaningful connections.

Volunteers also strengthen organizations by expanding capacity, increasing visibility and advocacy, and helping missions reach further than they could have alone.

And volunteers strengthen our city by deepening belonging, creating safer and more connected neighborhoods, improving outcomes for our most vulnerable neighbors, and contributing to a healthier, more unified Wilmington.

That's why it's so important that we don't just celebrate our volunteers, but also invest in the systems that support them.

Strong volunteer programs, thoughtful leadership, and meaningful opportunities to serve.

When we support what volunteers well, we strengthen Wilmington as a whole.

Thank you to every volunteer that makes the city a better place.

Thank you, Rose.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next presentation, I want to recognize the Wilmington Police Department Housing Task Force members and all of the staff that is here.

Also, we have uh Tag Earrett, who is the chair of that uh committee who is with us, or the chair of the Wilmington Housing Authority and Betsy and Dr.

Umar.

That's also part of the group.

Come on up here.

Let's bring the everybody up here.

I'd like to ask the entire city council to please come forward too.

We got a big group over here.

Clearly, I'm not a charge.

Yeah, we're gonna give these to the officers.

Well, first and foremost, um, we're here to honor this great group of individual law enforcement uh personnel here that do a tremendous job day in and day out, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in not only protecting our entire community, but also those properties in the Wilmington, Wilmington Housing Authority's uh jurisdiction, and there's several thousand units that belong into that jurisdiction and the Wilmington Housing Authority and I have done a phenomenal job in partnering with the city of Wilmington over a number of years in working with our law enforcement uh personnel to make those communities safer.

A lot of people don't realize, but we've had a 40% drop, I believe, in crime in those particular neighborhoods, and that's due to the fact that the hard work that you folks have put into this, in addition to the relationships that you have built, because I think that's more important than anything that we talk about here today, is the relationships that you folks have forged with the um neighbors in those communities to make certain that we have a safer community and a lot of people don't realize the vast majority of crime that happens in those neighborhoods are not committed by the people that live there, they're committed by people that come from outside of the area into the community, and these folks have done a phenomenal job in protecting our citizens and making those communities safer.

And I just want to say on behalf of all of the citizens of our community, we thank you for that endeavor, and we know how hard that work can be, but to build those relationships are extremely important to fighting crime and to making certain that our communities are safe.

Without the citizens, we cannot fight crime, and I've said that over and over again.

It takes the citizens having a trust in our law enforcement agencies so that we can combat it and make sure that we're putting the proper procedures and uh things in place to protect those communities and those neighbors and those children that live in those communities.