PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21,1999 - November 17, 1999

Contact: Gena Davis Communications
Beverly Speights: 310 645-5320
Gena Davis: 323 293-9499

LOS ANGELES NAACP HOST FREEDOM FUND DINNER
Los Angeles�. The Los Angeles Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will host their 1999 Freedom Fund Dinner on Wednesday, November 17, 1999 at the beautiful Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel located at 5400 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles. The reception begins at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m. Traditionally, this gala event is in celebration of the contributions and achievements of Roy Wilkins. This year's theme, "Lighting the Pathway," exemplifies NAACP's historical accomplishments during this century and its continued vision in the new millennium. The highlight of the evening will include a special awards presentation honoring those individuals whose contributions and achievements merit special recognition.

A special award presentation, the Thurgood Marshall Humanitarian Award, will be given to Bill and Melinda Gates and the Gate Foundation for their extraordinary generosity in the formation of the $1 billion Gates " Millennium Scholars Program."

The Honorable Juanita Millender-McDonald, of the 37th Congressional District, will receive the President's New Millennium Leadership Award. Retired Brigadier General Celes King, III President and Founder of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Reverend Cecil "Chip" Murray, Pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, will receive the Medgar Evers Award.

Bernard Parks, Los Angeles Chief of Police, will receive the H. Claude Hudson Award. Attorney Leon Jenkins, Chairman of the Los Angeles NAACP Legal Redress Committee, will receive the Volunteer of the Year Award. Maggie Hathaway, Golf's First Lady, will receive the Ida B. Wells Medal of Courage Award.

One of the goals of the Los Angeles NAACP is to improve the political, educational, social and economic status of minority groups by creating job fairs, linkage programs and job readiness training that will enhance opportunities disadvantage job seekers. The branch firmly believes that such programs are crucial components for building economic empowerment for community residents in the next millennium.

For general information, please contact the Los Angeles NAACP at (323) 296-2630