Ad-hoc Community Group Formed

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Marvin Chambers requests an opportunity to speak at the podium.

Faced with the refusal of the YMI board to respond to such demands (other than, in the words of Chairman Fort, that people could “sign up” in the lobby to get a copy of financial statements which would be mailed to them “soon”), a core group of several dozen stayed after the meeting for further discussion. As a result, the group decided to have a follow-up meeting.

Legal Trust Fund Established

By April 7 an Irrevocable Trust had been established at Wells Fargo
National Bank in the name of the “YMI Cultural Center Legal Fund.” Wells
Fargo was chosen because it will allow anyone to donate by cash, check,
or money order at any branch simply by telling a teller, either inside
or at the drive-through, that the money is for the “YMI Cultural Center
Legal Fund, at 17 W. Haith Street in Asheville.” The teller will look up
the account and accept the deposit, giving the donor a receipt for
their contribution.

Separately, an all-day fundraiser for the Legal Fund, sponsored
by Just Folks, will be held at Triangle Park on the Block on Saturday,
April 21. Beginning at 10 a.m. and continuing all day, a Yard Sale will
accept and sell good quality donations of unwanted treasures; from 3-10
p.m., Just Folks will sell chicken and pork-chop sandwiches for $4.
Contributions are tax-deductible, and all proceeds from the fundraising
events will go to the YMI Cultural Center Legal Fund.

So the saga of the YMI continues; after more than a century, its
future uncertain, the community is once again coming together to salvage
and restore this nationally historic institution.