The Freedom Fund Banquet Committee is planning its 13th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet scheduled for October 30 at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Peachtree City.
This year’s banquet themed “One Nation, One Dream, Justice for All,” keynote speaker will be Rev. Nelson B. Rivers, III. The Community Service Awards will be presented to honorees in the following categories: Youth – Camara Carter; Adult – Mrs. Phyllis Blake; and Organization – Theta Lambda Lambda Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. The Fayette County Community is invited to attend, ticket price is $60.00; however, if purchase online via the website http://www.fcnaacp.org. The ticket price is $62.00. For tickets and more information, please email ffb@fcnaacp.org or call 770-460-9934. Rev. Edward Johnson, Jr. is Chairperson.
The keynote speaker, Rev. Nelson Rivers is one of the charter members of the Fayette County Branch. From the small farming community of Bennett’s Point, SC and nearby Charleston, Rev. Nelson B. Rivers, III, son of Merelyn and the late Nelson Rivers, Jr., is a preacher of the gospel, civil rights professional, and community organizer. He has served as the guest preacher at churches in 23 states from Florida to California and Hawaii.
Rev. Rivers is married to the former Carolyn Smalls of Charleston and has four children and four grandchildren. He is a proud 1968 graduate of Burke High School in Charleston, SC. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wilberforce University in Ohio. He is a 1985 graduate of Leadership South Carolina. He was ordained at the Olivet Baptist Church of Christ in Fayetteville by the late Dr. Howard W. Creecy, Sr. He is pursuing his Master of Divinity at the Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, SC.
For 34 years Rev. Rivers worked at every level of the NAACP, including President, North Charleston Branch; Executive Director of the South Carolina State Conference; Director of the Southeast Region; Chief Operating Officer and twice as Chief of Field Operations, and is currently the Vice President of Stakeholder Relations of the NAACP.
His work led to the election of more than 300 new black elected officials in South Carolina between the years of 1986 and 1994. He was a leading organizer of the largest civil rights demonstration in the history of South Carolina when over 50,000 marched on the capitol in January 2000 to demand the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag.
Rev. Rivers is guided by the words of Jesus the Christ found in the Gospel of Mark 10:43: “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.” He is honored to serve as a servant of the people of God!
