We’re all different. And that’s O.K.

That is the message that Dot Fisher-Bynum said the Richmond County Human Relations Council hopes to spread through training and special events, like its eighth annual diversity banquet on April 25 at 6 p.m. at Cole Auditorium.

“Our county is becoming more and more diverse, and in order for it to be a win-win situation for everyone, we want to raise awareness of and celebrate each others’ differences” said Fisher-Bynum. “Instead of making something negative, why not make it positive? We can learn from each other.”

As chairperson of the non-profit organization, Fisher-Bynum said she has helped train local professionals to deal with the various diversity issues that can pop up in the workplace.

And she said it’s definitely not just about race.

“We talk about age, and the issues that can arise now that more older people are going back to work. We address topics pertaining to females, people with disabilities and those with special needs - topics that used to be more camouflaged.”

From ethnicity to socioeconomic background to sexual orientation, Fisher-Bynum said people are afraid of what they don’t know. But the diversity is there, so people need to learn how to deal with it.

“We’ve had people come in who didn’t see the importance of the training session and didn’t want to be there,” she said. “Then afterwards they come up and say ‘I had no idea; I thought this was just about race.’ It’s quite interesting.

“We’re all different, but we need to be treated the same; and a lot of times we are not treated the same simply because of ignorance.”

The banquet, which will be catered by Seaboard Station of Hamlet, will feature musical performances and a guest speaker - Dr. Cookie Newsom of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Corporate and individual donations make the banquet possible.

Individual tickets are $10 and corporate sponsorships go from $100 to $500. To RSVP, call 582-0848 or 895-2319 by April 17.