By Andrew Barbano
Rev. Onie Cooper and Dr. Milton Glick will be remembered at the Reno-Sparks NAACP's 66th Annual Freedom Fund Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 14, 2011, at the Atlantis Resort in Reno. Reception begins at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at 7:00 p.m. in the hotel's Grand Ballroom.
The keynote address will be delivered by retired City of Reno Assistant Chief of Police Ondra (pronounced like the French "Andre") Berry. He currently serves as a colonel in the Nevada Air National Guard and is a partner in a consulting firm.
Dr. Glick, who died in his fifth year as University of Nevada president, will posthumously receive the NAACP education advocate award. His wife Peggy will accept on his behalf. She will be accompanied by UNR Interim President Dr. Marc Johnson. A $1,000 scholarship will be awarded in Dr. Glick's name. He was a member of the Reno-Sparks branch throughout his tenure and succeeded in increasing minority enrollment during his administration.
Rev. Cooper was a lifelong civil rights and human rights advocate. He served as branch president in 1977-78. As a result of his personal campaign, a 22-mile stretch of US 395 through Reno was named for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Additional Freedom Fund honorees this year include Girl Scouts of America leader Barbara Bolton, who will receive the annual youth advocate award, and Reno's Second Baptist Church, winner of the annual civil rights advocate award.
The event is the local organization's principal annual fundraiser. Table sponsorships start at $1,000 for corporations and $600 for non-profit organizations. Individual tickets are $60 in advance, $65 at the door. They may be obtained by contacting Freedom Fund Committee Chair Patricia Gallimore at (775) 746-9453 or Dolores Feemster at (775) 323-3677. Tickets, tables and sponsorships may also be purchased through the branch website, www.RenoSparksNAACP.org
The NAACP is the nation's leading civil rights organization and has been a champion in the civil rights movement over the past 100 years. The Reno-Sparks Branch was chartered in 1945.