Coach Ken Carter was this years keynote speaker and inspiration behind the film “Coach Carter”.  He was not short on energy.  From the moment he entered to the ballroom blowing his whistle it was easy to see that the Real Coach Carter has a passion for people, especially troubled youth.  Carter’s famous act of locking his championship basketball team out of the gym to focus on academics was not an attempt to penalize them but rather an opportunity to teach them a lesson of a lifetime: I wasn’t trying to be mean to anybody . I was just trying to discipline the kids. A punishment may have lasted one week, one day or one month.  Discipline would last you a lifetime.  You have to be able to discipline yourself and for some kids, the reason they’re in trouble because they’ve never been able to discipline themselves of they haven’t been around anybody with discipline. Discipline is a learned asset. While our young people are one-third of our population, they are 100 percent of our future. A lot of kids think getting and getting. But I tell them no, it’s all about service and giving, it’s better to give than receive. In addition to the inspiration of Coach Carter, this year’s more than 500 guests had the pleasure of hearing from Higher M-Pact youth, A.J. who has been involved in the program since 2005.  As a Leaders of Tomorrow youth, A.J. was courageous enough to share his personal story of how his participation in Higher M-Pact has changed him and brought opportunities to his life he could have never imagined.   Former board member, John Chalfant, was honored for bringing his vision and leadership of the luncheon to life seven years ago as a way of supporting youth served through Higher M-Pact's programs. Many thanks to this year’s event chair, Pat McGannon and the 2011 Luncheon Committee for their leadership and direction.