Muskingum Co. NAACP Holds Freedom Fund Banquet

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Yesterday, the NAACP celebrated their 51st annual Freedom Fund banquet at Bryan Place.

Their keynote speaker, Anthony Thompson came from Atlanta, Georgia. He runs a tutoring service to help students become academically eligible to play college sports.

President for the local chapter, Kenneth Burke says this was their largest crowd for the banquet.

“Once you take somebody then you have all the families coming in from everywhere. And Anthony he has come here from Georgia and he — they’ve got a pretty big family so you start getting families and cousins and nieces and sons and — they come from everywhere and I think this is our biggest one yet.”

The event honored three women, Burke says two were like mothers to him while he was growing up.

“The ladies that we’re honoring tonight are — there’s two that are about 90-years-old. We want to honor them for the work that they’ve done in the community — in the 8th ward for years. They still live there. When I was a kid — they were — they were like — we had a lot of moms.”

Some of the proceeds for the event went toward two $250 book donations for college students. They also went toward civic and community events and other programs supported by the chapter.