In honor of Black History Month this February, Moraine Park Diversity Relations has partnered with MPTC alumna and business owner, Christal Shipp, in an initiative supporting black-owned businesses.

The initiative–A Taste of Black Excellence–allows MPTC employees and community members to purchase boxes filled with products and services from several Wisconsin black-owned businesses located inside the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace (https://www.shermanphoenix.com/vision) in Milwaukee.

The Sherman Phoenix is a hub for small businesses of color offering wellness services, cultural activities, business services and diverse foods. One of those businesses is CTRL+C, a copy and print service company owned by Moraine Park graduate Christal Shipp.

Recently, Shipp presented on Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus to speak about the Taste of Black Excellence boxes and share her story.

“Once you purchase a box, you will get the products with a story about the businesses and a QR code information to rebuy any of the products,” Aryana Barudin, Moraine Park multicultural student support and programming specialist, said. “The big push behind these boxes is that we want the products and services to go to people with spending power. We want you to share these products and talk about them with each other and with the community so people will keep buying. As great as awareness is, this is an awesome opportunity for people to put their money where their heart is.”

To purchase your Taste of Black Excellence box, visit https://forms.office.com/r/T7qFrgMN2X. Boxes can be purchased through Feb. 27.