St. Louis County NAACP: To Greater Heights
Cross posted from Laude News
As the nation’s youngest chair of the Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner, John Gaskin III has led the St. Louis County NAACP event to a sellout crowd two years in a row. This spring, the Ladue High School grad and Benedictine College student will go for a hat-trick. “My grandmother, Esther Haywood, is president of the organization in St. Louis,” he says, proudly. “The NAACP is in my bloodline.”
The organization’s local chapter, which works to eliminate racial discrimination and ensure political, educational, social and economic equal rights for everyone, will hold its 76th annual Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner on June 3 at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. The gala, themed All in for Freedom and Equality, will begin with a reception at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:45 p.m.
During the evening, 25 local contributors will be honored. NAACP national board chair Roslyn Brock, the event’s featured speaker, will receive The Lifetime Achievement Award for her acclaimed roles as a national health care advocate and starting the NAACP health initiatives. “We didn’t have a health program before her,” Gaskin notes. As the youngest-ever national board chair, Brock also started the annual NAACP Leadership 500 Summit, which brings together young professionals from across the nation to advocate for civil rights, diversity and inclusion. “She is bringing young people to the table to be involved in the conversation of civil rights, and has taken the organization to greater heights,” Gaskin explains.
