MARCH 2023

03/23 – Indie Lens Pop-Up Screening of “STORMING CAESARS PALACE”
Join us on Thursday, February 23rd at noon for a free in-person screening of Storming Caesars Palace by Hazel Gurland-Pooler.

Storming Caesars Palace chronicles the life of Ruby Duncan, an activist who fights the welfare system and ends up a White House advisor. It all begins when she loses her job due to a workplace accident and goes on welfare, where she discovers firsthand the stigma and harassment by an overzealous welfare department. With Mary Wesley and Alversa Beals, Ruby joins a welfare rights group to fight for an adequate income, dignity, and justice. They, along with low-income mothers across the country, form the National Welfare Rights Organization with the support of George Wiley and Frances Fox Piven. Together they introduce a guaranteed adequate income campaign which, with feminist Gloria Steinem at their side, becomes part of the Democratic platform in 1972.

When the Las Vegas mothers are slashed from the welfare rolls, they launch “Operation Nevada,” and lead an army 1,500 strong—including Ralph Abernathy and Jane Fonda—down the Strip into Caesars Palace, shutting it down. Later, Ruby forms Operation Life, one of the first women-led community corporations in the nation bringing medical services and meaningful jobs to her Westside neighborhood. From a boisterous protestor to a strategic organizer, Ruby wants lasting change, and President Jimmy Carter appointed her to his Council on Economic Opportunity.

Based on a groundbreaking book, Storming Caesars Palacespotlights an unsung leader and movement whose stand for America’s principles of justice, inclusion, and opportunity for all challenged notions of the “welfare queen” and continues to shape the calls for economic justice that ring today. TRT 60 minutes. Peak Media Group Founder, Sherry Peak will facilitate a short discussion after the screening with guest speaker Rev. Marilynn Collier, Founder of The Gathering of the Queens/765 Food Desert Project. 

Indie Lens Pop-Up is a free community film series that brings people together for in-person and virtual screenings and community-driven conversations. Look here for more details. Storming Caesars Palace premieres on #IndependentLens Monday, March 20, 2023. Watch on PBS and the PBS Video app starting at 10/9c. Check your local listings here. Presented with support from: #ITVS #StormingCeasarsPBS #IndieLensPopUp #Sweet16Neighborhood #PeakMediaGroup #CharitableFilmNetwork

03/16 – Voter Registration Table – 11:00am to 4:00pm at the AIC
Co-Hosted with The League of Women Voters of Anderson & Madison County. For more information about voter registration Look Here.

03/16 – StandUp Wireless Phone & Tablet Giveaway – 11:00am to 4:00pm at the AIC
Free phones and tablets for individuals who qualify (Food Stamps, Medicaid+, Low Income, WIC). Must have a valid Indiana ID. For more information Look Here or contact Lacey Sneddon at (317) 597-2885.

03/16 – Impact Senior Adult Program: Bingo Luncheon – 11:00am to 1:00pm at the AIC
Join AIC, Ivy Tech, Anderson Community Schools, and National Able Network for an afternoon of Bingo, Food and Fun! RSVP required by 03/10/23. Call 765-356-9497.

03/11 – Veterans Coffee Club – 9:00am to 11:00am at the AIC
FREE coffee, rolls and donuts on the second Saturday of the month. All veterans, young and old are welcome! *The Gathering of the Queens / 765Food Desert Project will host a veterans pantry during the coffee hour. For more information visit Veterans Coffee Club Anderson Indiana on Facebook or call (765) 617-5140.

03/08 – 2nd Annual Women’s Community Prayer Breakfast – 8:30am to 10:30am at the AIC
Come together on International Women’s Day to celebrate the accomplishments of women everywhere, and to lift one another up in prayer for today and the future. Guest speakers include: Rev. Vern Ella Davis – Pastor at New Covenant Kingdom Ministries, Dr. Stephanie Moran -Anderson University Director of Engagement and Adult Learning, Sherry Peak – Executive Director of the Anderson Impact Center and Founder of Peak Media Group, and Kim Townsend – Executive Director of the Anderson Housing Authority. Admission Free! *Light breakfast provided.