The Colleton County Branch of the NAACP held its 37th Annual Freedom Fund Gala on Saturday June 15th at the Walterboro Wildlife Center. The Gala is an annual event that the local branch of the NAACP hosts every year. This is an opportunity to gather not only for a fundraiser, but also for an empowerment event.
Hiram Em Davis was the Master of Ceremonies and Chairperson of the event. He said the event was a great success, “This year, I wanted to do something a little different, move close to the town and give us a more intimate setting. We ended up selling out and it was completely jam packed. We sold every single table for this event. Our theme this year was the Harlem Renaissance and we gave a nice history of the Harlem Renaissance era, people dressed up in their Harlem Renaissance attire and it was just it was just fantastic.”
A highlight of the event was the Keynote Speaker also called the Empowerment Moment. The Honorable Maggie Wallace Glover presented the address. Glover was the first African American female lead South Carolina Senate. Originally from Florida, she has taken the time after her retirement from the political side to travel the state and the country to empower people through her message, to get people excited about life and things going on in the world. Davis adds, “She did an amazing job of lifting us up and preparing us for the upcoming election in November.”
They gave out several awards this year. The first award was our Presidents Member of the Year Award. This award went to Miss Margeane White. This year was the inaugural year for a award in memory of some individuals that either played an integral part in the founding of the operation of the branch in years past or community leaders that have done significant things in the community that have passed on. The award was the Reverend Riley and Vernal Williams Leadership Award. The award was given to Miss Sabrina Johnson. They also gave out the Dorothy Brooks-Ferrette Community Activist Award which went to Mr. Central Williams, and the Family of Miss Dorothy M Brooks-Ferrette received a Community Service Award that was originally going to her before her passing earlier this year. They also gave out the Horace Simmons Civic Engagement Award and that went to Inez Pierce. All of these recipients received these awards because they met the criteria that was established for each of these awards showing service in each of these areas.
This year they presented two $1000 dollar scholarships at the event. The scholarships were presented to Savion Pierce and Alexandria Stephens who will be attending college in the fall. The NAACP was excited to be able to increase the amount of the scholarships this year.
The event was catered by Seasons of Love with music by Lamar Joyner.
Davis was very pleased with the event, “We’re excited and we’re moving forward, and we can’t wait until next year. We were able to sell out this event. It was a great evening.” For more pictures look online and on page 10.
