Willie Spence spent much of this year performing on an international stage as a finalist on American Idol.
On Saturday, he was back home in Palm Beach County, singing for the people who know him best.
People gathered that morning in a packed room at a DoubleTree hotel in Palm Beach Gardens to honor Kenneth Bowers, the executive director and founder of the charity Operation Hope, and others in the community. Spence, who was involved in the charity from the ages of 6 to 16, said it was about time that we’re finally honoring Mr. Bowers.
Bowers said he started Operation Hope in 1986. Our mission is keeping dreams alive, working with the homeless, working with people that are in distress, the unfortunate, he said.
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Bowers, who said he was at the watch party in Riviera Beach for the Idol finale, said it had been fantastic to watch Spence and have him at the Saturday event.
Bowers said Spence always loved to sing. And I told him back then, something’s going to happen in your life. Spence recalled his musical beginnings, too.
I remember being in Operation Hope and singing on the playgrounds when I was little, Spence said, and to be able to stand on the ‘American Idol’ stage and perform every Sunday night has been a dream come true.
Spence placed second in the national competition, which ended in May. In front of recording smartphones on Saturday, Spence sang a song that those who’d been watching him had heard before.
