NAACP prepares for 96th Freedom Fund Banquet

Photo

WILLIAM D. LEWIS | THE VINDICATOR Those involved with the Freedom Fund Banquet are, seated, L.K. Williams, youth adviser; and in back from left, Desirae Hairston, youth member; Juanita Byrd, banquet chairwoman; and Steven Mickel, local NAACP president.

Staff report

GIRARD

The Youngstown unit of NAACP will have its 96th Freedom Fund Banquet beginning at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Mahoning Country Club, 710 E. Liberty St.

The donation to attend the event is $40. For information call the NAACP office at 330-782-9777 or email naacpyoungstown@yahoo.com.

The theme is “All In for Freedom and Justice.” The keynote speaker will be Sammie J. Dow, National Youth and College Division director for the NAACP. He has created a positive impact across the country because of his expertise in organizing youth, strategic fundraising and program management.

As division director he is responsible for the nation’s largest army of civil rights youth leaders with more than 25,000 young people across the 600 active councils and college chapters throughout the nation.

Through a targeted membership campaign, 5,000 young people joined or returned to the NAACP within the first few months of his arrival. The Youth and College Division is leading a national grassroots strategy to engage youth, college students and young professionals in an anti-gun violence campaign.

The initiative will engage thousands of young people through advocacy for community solutions that promote safer and stronger neighborhoods.

Dow holds a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina AT&T State University and a master’s in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a candidate for a master of divinity at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.