Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 April 2010 — Page 5

The Muncie Times • April 16, 2010 • Page 5

continued from page 1 you are in the presence of a gentleman. A resident of Muncie for over 20 years, Taylor is the sort of person who strikes one as a man’s man who can handle his business, but also the type of man who opens a door for a lady. Welldressed and well-spo-ken, Taylor has been at Delaware Machinery since 1990, and is weathering the storm of recession that has hit manufacturers across the world. Delaware Machinery is up for sale and employees are riding the wave of change, but in the midst of it all Tayl r continues show grace and concern for others - something members of the community are used to seeing from Taylor since he and his family came to Muncie from Indianapolis two decades ago. A founding member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Team, Taylor has been involved in many community organizations from the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce to the Alliance for Strategic Growth, Inc. to the Delaware County Safety Council and Muncie Boys & Girls Club. He has also been an advisory board member at Ball State University, Vincennes University, Ivy Tech State College, Project Lead the Way (Muncie School Corporation), as well as New Castle and Connersville School Corporations.

“The lives he has touched has been many and the agencies he has been involved with are better for having his influence,” said Beatrice (Bea) Moten-Foster, founder and publisher of The Muncie Times. “Rick Taylor has helped many young people get jobs and find their purpose in life. He is my friend and a very kind person.” One of those people touched by Taylor is Muncie resident and Pepsi employee Angelo Edwards. A product of a broken home in the mid1990s, Edwards was living at the Delaware County Children’s Home when Foster told Taylor about a bright young man who was going through tough times. Taylor took him under his wing and began mentoring him, and helped him get a job through the JTPA youth employment program. Taylor also helped him attend a youth leadership conference in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1990s, a big adventure for an inner-city youth who had never been on a plane. “Rick and several other Delaware Machinery employees made sure I had everything I needed when I went to D.C., and he just basically helped me get to where I am today,” he said. “He made sure my schoolwork was a priority and that I put first things first. He made sure I was able to work and still go to school - he basically just tried to help me in any way he

could. I made many, many mistakes when I was young, but Rick never gave up on me and he kept believing in me.” Taylor, himself a father of two sons and a daughter, said he cared about Edwards because he felt he was trying to better himself. He knew Edwards’s home life would harm his chances of success, and said he felt lead to help out any way he could. He is proud that Edwards is now a 10-year employee of Pepsi and is currently a student at Ivy Tech State College majoring in - what else - human resources. “We hired Angelo part-time after school in 1995 and he was invited to go to the National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington , D.C.,” Taylor said. “The employees at Delaware Machinery took up a collection to buy him a suit and give him spending money while he was at the conference. He wrote an article for our company newsletter thanking our employees, saying “I could not have been able to attend this conference without your donations. “Years later (2008) while Angelo was attending Ivy Tech State College, he contacted me to be interviewed for an English paper about a career in human resources,” Taylor continued. “He is pursuing this career partially due to our interaction. Angelo liked how I helped our employees and want to be able to

help others.” I hope to help others in their times of need, I want to show them there are still good people out there who do care about them and their well being.” Taylor, who also worked in the early years in planning the Minority Community Health and Job Fair, believes there are still many “Angelo Edwards’s” out there - students who need a helping hand. He wants Muncie to be a better place for all its citizens - the man reason he is on the Dream Team. “The diversity of the committee has been because there was and is a concerted effort to seek diverse individuals that believe in the “Dream,” he said. “Membership to the organization is open to all individuals that embody and support the “Dream. [I want the Dream Team to] continue Martin Luther King Jr’s. Dream. To become more involved and to become better known in the Community and to develop a scholarship for a high school student who exemplifies the “Dream”. He said the election of President Barack Obama showed him that this nation and Delaware County - which voted Obama over McCain - is filled with people who are listening to the tenets of the Dream Team, which seeks equal opportunity for all. “One of the things that the election showed me is that [what we are trying to do] is working,”

she said. “People are more willing to look past the color of a person’s skin. Diversity is a major part of our Society these days. Some day it would be great to reference a person in the media on accomplishments and not have to say this “black” person; this “white” person; this “Hispanic” person etc.” As a member of the Dream Team, Taylor would like to see more inclusion in the city and to see more minorities involved with city, county and local government. He would also like to see more minorities involved in politics and leadership positions. He is married to Pam, his wife of 36 years. She teaches at the Blind School in Indianapolis. His son, Richard F. Taylor III is married to Lauren and is an Assistant Vice President of the National Bank of Indianapolis in Carmel , Indiana . Son Todd Taylor is a Mental Health Counselor for Aspire Indiana in Anderson and daughter Trisha Chapman is married to Joseph Chapman and has a beautiful 2 Vi year old daughter named Justyce who Taylor loves to spoil.“She is “Papas” girl,” he said proudly. In addition to his many family activities, Taylor plays basketball several days a week to stay in shape. He invites anyone to find out more about the Dream Team by calling (765) 7410037.