This week on The Local Take we’re speaking with Justine Boyd our Regional Development Director for the United Negro College Fund. Their annual fundraiser the Mayor’s Masked Ball is taking place on December 18th. This annual fundraiser to provide scholarships to young people in our community has sold out again, but donations are still being accepted. This year’s event will be the last for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mayor-Elect Andre Dickens will also be on hand.
Boyd shares with us that the United Negro College Fund is the largest educational organization in our country. For seventy-seven years they have provided scholarships in support of thirty-seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). This includes Clark-Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Center, Morehouse College,
and Spelman College. She tells us that the UNCF was founded on the campus of Tuskeegee University and many of the students who receive their funds are the first in the families to attend college.
I ask Boyd about this year’s fundraiser, she explains that Senator Rafael Warnock will be attending along with Congresswoman Nikema Williams. They will be following COVID-19 Pandemic guidelines with negative tests required to attend as well as masks.
Boyd speaks about the students that they support some from Bachelor’s degree to PhD. Additionally, they work with entities to establish and administer scholarships. For more information, you can contact Justine Boyd via email at justine.boyd@uncf.org or phone at 404-302-8623. Donations can be made at UNCF.org. For more information on The Mayor’s Masked Ball.