Anniversary to be celebrated by Neighborhood Centers

Proceeds from the event will benefit community organizations and families.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 65th anniversary of Associated Neighborhood Centers Inc. will be celebrated June 23 during a dinner and meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. at the McGuffey Centre, 1649 Jacobs Road.
A highlight of the event will be the keynote address by Candace Sheffield Matthews, president of SoftSheen-Carson, a consumer products division of L'Or & eacute;al USA Inc., and a trustee with Carnegie Mellon University.
A native of New Brighton, Pa., Matthews received a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering and administrative and management science from Carnegie Mellon. She earned a master's degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business and has held management positions and played senior marketing roles with several well-known firms.
Community involvement
Matthews is the recipient of many awards for her leadership and community service.
Her involvement in the African-American community includes spearheading the L'Or & eacute;al/Soft Sheen-Carson Scholarship Program and the Diva Duds Charity Clothing Drive. She has been featured in such major publications as Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise, Glamour, Salon Sense and the Wall Street Journal.
Matthews and her husband, Bruce, have twin daughters and reside in Weston, Conn.
The anniversary event is planned as a fundraiser for the centers that have a long history of actively networking with community organizations, schools and health care providers to offer needed services to low income, minority, and disadvantaged youths, families and seniors. The centers provide programs that are designed to assist clientele in developing effective skills to manage their lives and offers the programs at little or no cost.
Providing support
Among the celebrity chairmen for the occasion are Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams; Atty. Corey A. Booker, mayor-elect of Newark, N.J.; Senator Marc Dann; Senator Robert Hagan; Dr. M. Williams Howard, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark; Margaret Linton Lanier, retired community activist; Twila Welcher Norman, daughter of a founder of McGuffey Centre; State Representative Sylvester Patton; and Congressman Tim Ryan. There are also more than 60 community chairmen.
Tickets for the celebration are $40. For more information call Gwen Alexander at Associated Neighborhoods Center, (330) 744-4377.