The Bulloch County chapter of the NAACP has announced events for Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend, January 13-15, 2024. The theme for this year's celebration is "THRIVE: In Movement. In Culture. In Community."
Prayer Breakfast
The annual Bulloch NAACP Prayer Breakfast is Saturday, January, 13th, at 8:30 a.m. The breakfast will be held at The Williams Center on the campus of Georgia Southern University, and tickets are $25.00 per person. Anyone wanting to purchase a ticket may contact Yevette McCall, President of the Bulloch County NAACP, at 912-690-4821.
Parade
The parade is Monday, January 15th, and is set to begin at 2 p.m. in downtown Statesboro. (Grice Connect will livestream the parade on its Facebook page.)
"We are anticipating great participation in this year's parade," Bulloch NAACP Secretary Sophia Harris-Johnson said. "We have our float competition where 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies will be awarded. Slots are filling fast and the deadline to enter is January 8th."
This year's parade grand marshal is Mrs. LaShai Campbell.
Mrs. LaShai E. Campbell, MBA, MAcc is the co-founder and Executive Director of Restoring the Breach, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization based in Statesboro providing educational, wellness, and outreach programming for residents, youth, and college students in order to provide them the tools to improve their life as well as the lives of their families. She is a proud alumna and triple eagle of Georgia Southern University earning degrees in accounting and business. She currently serves on the board of the Statesboro Youth Commission Network and the Friends of the Statesboro-Bulloch County Library. LaShai is also a member of the Bulloch County Commission on Human Services, the Network of Black Alumni at Georgia Southern University, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
She is a graduate of the 5th cohort of the Lynda Brannen Williamson Foundation Leadership Academy, 2021 recipient of the Statesboro 20 under 40 recognition, and a 2022 recipient of the Georgia Southern University 40 under 40 recognition. In each role she undertakes, her dedication of using her education and experiences to foster collaboration within communities to increase the quality of life for all is always at the forefront.
LaShai is the wife of Philip Campbell, Assistant Principal at Statesboro STEAM Academy, and the dog mom of Boogie.
"We extended this honor to Mrs. Campbell as a token of our appreciation for the works she's done and continues to do in her service to the residents, youth, adults and college students through the organization, Restoring The Breach," Harris-Johnson said. "We recognize that her service goes above and beyond and it is because of that that we bestowed the honor to her. She is a true example of this year's theme."
Applications for the parade are available at Hills Mortuary, Inc. and Craig R Tremble Funeral Homes, Inc. Participants may also register online at MLK National Holiday Observance (google.com).
Observance Program
The Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Program will begin after the parade. The program will be held at the Elm Street Church of God in Statesboro.
"We are so grateful for Reverend Smith and his congregation for hosting the Observance Day Program at the church each year," Harris-Johnson added.
This year's keynote speaker will be Mr. Thomas James, Youth Chair for the Screven County NAACP.
The chapter's Service Works for this year's celebration is collecting food items that will be donated to our local food bank. These items will be collected before and after the Observance Day Program.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
