Vincent Jackson
Originally scheduled for MLK Day, the event will now coincide with Black History Month in February.
The MLK Dream Keeper Award Ceremony honors area youth who have given valuable service to the Bradley County community.
The Rev. Vincent Jackson will deliver the keynote address for the event.
Jackson has more than 19 years of experience planning and participating in outreach ventures and is currently a program manager for First Helping Street Outreach at D.C. Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C.
First Helping is a street-level outreach program that aims to empower and assist homeless and low-income individuals by providing food and building relationships.
The MLK Dream Keeper Award is co-sponsored by the Minister’s Fellowship of Cleveland-Bradley County, the Bradley County Chapter of the NAACP and 100 Black Men of Bradley County Inc.
The organizations will partner with Lee University to host a service celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Musical selections will be rendered by the Cleveland High School Gospel Choir under the direction of Rodney Gipson.
Also included in the program is the presentation of the Dream Keeper Award. This award is given each year to selected African-American students, grades 6 through 12, from the city and county school systems who maintain a 3.0 out of 4.0 or better grade-point average.
The award was conceived in 1993 by the Ministers Fellowship of Cleveland-Bradley County (formerly the Black Ministers’ Fraternity), with cooperation from both school systems.
That year, the idea grew to institute an award for middle and high school students who would promote and honor academic achievement.
The award’s name was chosen to commemorate King and his articulation of a dream, one for a better future for all citizens — Dream Keeper.
The first award was granted in 1994. By the following year, the event had outgrown the largest church building in the community, Pleasant Grove, and was moved to the Dixon Center.
For more information about the Dream Keeper Award Ceremony, contact Dr. Michael Laney at 423-614-8229 or e-mail mlaney@leeuniversity.edu.
