NAACP Freedom Fund Luncheon stresses ‘Reconnecting the Family’

By Patty Booth O’Neill
West Long Branch — After lunch, dessert and socializing at Branches, guest speakers offered inspiring words to the more than 280 guests that attended this year’s NAACP Freedom Fund Luncheon. The program ended with keynote speaker Thabiti Boone, the White House Representative for the President Obama Fatherhood Mentoring Initiative.
“And now I’m going to present the Presidential pin to, no not Mr. Dangler, but to his mother, who has been by his side and his major supporter. I’m awarding the pin to Odessa Dangler,” Boone announced.

“At the beginning of the program Mr. Boone asked me about the elders in our group,” said Lorenzo “Bill” Dangler, President of Greater Long Branch Chapter NAACP. Dangler named some men at the luncheon. “He asked me if there were any women and I told him my mother had started the program. ‘That’s all I need to know,’” he told me.

Dangler thought Boone was just gathering information to make his speech more personal, but was visibly moved when Boone stuck the pin on his mother’s lapel and then presented him with the Presidential Community Service Award. “I was surprised,” Dangler said. “I wasn’t expecting any of this.

That’s how the ceremony ended.

When first standing at the podium and addressing guests, Boone got straight to the point, “We are still talking about Black Lives Matter. We are still talking about police relations in our community. One thing we have forgotten. What about our fathers? This is so important to our President.”

Boone works for President Obama, traveling around the country speaking on fatherhood. “They have become disposable. Mentors are fine, but you can’t replace a real father.” He continued on the importance of the subject, receiving strong support from the audience. “As we push forward we must include our fathers.”

“Reconnecting the Family” was the theme of the Annual Freedom Fund Luncheon for the Greater Long Branch Chapter of the NAACP, held Saturday at Branches Catering.
Seven men were honored for their leadership and guidance to the community: Judge Lawrence Lawson; Frank Vozos, M.D.; Tyrone Laws; Elford Rawls-Dill, Ph.D., James Brown and Robert Hamilton.

About the honorees

Dr. Antonio Lewis, affectionately called “Doc,” served as Superintendent of the Asbury Park School District from 1999 to 2009, and currently serves as Principal on Special Assignment to the Superintendent of the Asbury Park School District.

Lewis received his Doctorate of Education from Rutgers University. He has served on the board of directors fo the YMCA of East Orange, and also been a member of the Citizen Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board o the Essex County Sheriff. He was named Man of the Year by the National Association of Negro Business & Professional Woman’s Club
He recently returned from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, where he was a consultant for the National CSI as their Educational Envoy.

Robert Harrison, of Long Branch, was honored for his accomplishments in the areas of education, affirmative action, contract compliance and equal opportunity employment.
He began his professional career at the Asbury Park schools as a teacher and assistant track coach. After initially being appointed a WIN/CETA consultant in the Monmouth County Employment and Training Department, he was elevated, eventually receiving become Director of Youth and Special Programs for Monmouth County.

Based on his success there, he was placed on loan ot the U.S. Department of Labor. New Jersey also appointed him to several positions, including State Coordina-tor of ‘Food Stamps’ Recipient Employment Program, and Director of Human Resources and Minory Finance Agency. While performing the last duty, he helped found the American Contract Compliance Association, the largest organization representing affirmative action, equal employment and contract compliance progressionals in the United States.

Judge Lawrence Lawson retired from as a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court last year, after a 27-year career, 21 as Assignment Judge for the Monmouth Vicinage.

After graduating from Catholic University, Washington D.C., with a Juris Doctor degree, Lawson became the first African-American Law Secretary to the late Judge Thomas Yaccarino. In 1974, he opened up his own law firm, practicing until 1987 when he was appointed to the Superior Court.

Prior to becoming a judge, Lawson had served as Mayor of Neptune Township, attorney for the Board of Adjustment of Neptune, and as a member of the Neptune Planning Board. He also served as the Municipal Prosecutor for Asbury Park.

Lawson serves n numerous boards, including the Board of Trustees for Monmouth Medical Center, and the Two River Community Bank Advisory Board.

Dr. Frank Vozos is President and Chief Executive Officer of Monmouth Medical Center.
Vozos, M.D., FACS, cane o Monmouth Medical Center in 1975 to begin the residency program in general surgery. He has been a dedicated member fo the greater Long Branch community ever since.

For 20 years, he served as program director of the general surgery residency program at Monmouth, and also as president of the hospital’s 900-member medical and dental staff. In 1998, he became only the second physician in New Jersey to take on the top hospital leadership role.

Over the years he has been active in many local service organizations, including the American Red Cross, Prevention First, and Boy Scouts of America.

Dr. Elford Rawls-Dill has devoted the last 15 years of his life to teaching, mentoring, coaching and leading both students and staff in New Jersey schools. He has served in many roles, including as a school principal and district administrator, including at the Long Branch school system.

He has worked to formalize curriculum implementation with a high level of fidelity.  During his school administrative tenure, he has successfully led student-centered educational reforms replete with rigorous academic standards and relevant 21st century learning models designed to enhance the learning experiences for all students.

Understanding the power of mentorship, Dr. Rawls-Dill mentors a host of young men, helping them develop their ability to navigate through a society that is difficult to master. He believes in the power of positive support systems to help young people grow into the best versions of themselves.

James Brown Jr., son of Pastor James and Marilyn Brown, attended schools in Neptune before graduating Long Branch High School in 2001. After attending Hampton University to pursue a degree in business administration, he returned to the area, getting a job as a teacher paraprofessional in the Red Bank School District.

Brown said that experience changed his mind, and he began to develop a love of teaching. He enrolled in Kean University as a Special Ed/Elementary Ed. major, and was nominated as Outstanding Professional Intern his last semester there.

He hest served as a teacher in Red Bank, and a mentor for the Youth Success Network. In 2011, he was offered an opportunity to serve as a special education teacher in Long Branch, and at the end of the year, having earned a Masters in Education, accepted the job of

Principal of the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Academy at Long Branch High School. He is currently Principal of the School of Visual and Performing Arts.
Tyrone Laws has been an artist, actor, playwright and community and cultural activist, as well as a public speaker, for more than 30 ears. He has committed his life work to “Teaching the Children the Truth.”

He is current vice-chair of the Stop the Violence Action Committee in Asbury Park, and was an active member of the Asbury Park Civic Participation Project and Monmouth County Leadership Dialogue.