Local NAACP helps high school students with scholarship fund
CLAY COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Citizens of Clay County are in the giving mood for high school students.
The Clay County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held its first-ever “Catfish and Blues” event and added a scholarship fundraiser.
The inaugural Catfish and Blues event for the Clay County Branch of the NAACP was filled with food, conversation and culture.
It was a scholarship fundraiser to help the youth in Clay County.
The president of the Clay County branch, Anner Cunningham, said the scholarship is for high school seniors and another youth program.
“Well high school students because of course we have those that are graduating and going to do non-traditional things or going to college,” Cunningham said. “We want to award those individuals and their efforts in going out to the world. We also with the ACT-SO program offer scholarships for program and learning opportunities to show their talents for those that are 18 and younger. Hence, we offer scholarships for several different reasons for different youth.”
The Afro-Academic, Cultural, Tecnological, and Scientific Olympic (ACT-SO), program is a performing arts youth program.
Terell Harris, the economic chair for his branch, said it was important to get the community and culture involved with the fundraiser.
“It actually feels good,” Harris said. “The most important thing is trying to get the community on board with us so we can be able to up it. So, we can give out more scholarships per year.”
Harris also said he considers the event a success.
“I think it turned out good. Actually, better than I expected it. It’s hard trying to put an event through an organization that a lot of people don’t know much about so doing things like this lets people come ask questions and learn about what we are doing.”
The Clay County branch of the NAACP said they want to continue to make the Catfish and Blues scholarship fundraiser an annual event.
