The Greenwood City Council on Tuesday honored Freddie White-Johnson with a key to the city and a proclamation expressing gratitude for her work on behalf of the Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation.
White-Johnson, the founder of the nonprofit cancer awareness group, said the Hamer Foundation has over 1,000 volunteers.
“Cancer does not see color, money or status, and it’s on the rise,” White-Johnson said. “Our goal is to eradicate cancer in Mississippi.”
White-Johnson told the council that the foundation has 5½ acres on which to build a permanent home in Ruleville, the hometown of civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, and that a half acre of property has been donated by descendants of the Marlow family that “put Ms. Hamer off the plantation” when she dared to register to vote.
Mayor Carolyn McAdams praised White-Johnson’s efforts as well as her co-worker, Latania Dodd of Itta Bena, and the many volunteers who have worked to raise cancer awareness.
In 2015, a historic cancer awareness motor vehicle tag was made available in Mississippi due to the work of the foundation.
Also appearing before the council were Cornelius Sanders and Ricky Tucker of Promise Development Corporation, a Memphis-based nonprofit that has worked primarily in North Memphis to improve housing, education, workforce training and business development as well as focusing on community unity events and crime reduction.
Sanders, the founder of Promise Development Corporation, previously called the North Memphis Community Development Corporation, said the group has worked to provide housing for the homeless and to repair and replace decaying housing in Memphis. Currently the group manages 350 housing units in that community, 100 of which house people who were previously homeless.
“We’d love to come to your ward or district and have you let us know the needs of your community,” Sanders said.
Sanders said his organization, which has been active since 2000, has been successful at securing federal and state grant money for its initiatives and also looks for ways to create private-public partnerships and collaborations to bring together people working for similar goals. He said the nonprofit currently operates four offices and has 22 staff members.
“This would be our first time working in Mississippi,” Sanders said. He told council he first visited Greenwood with his wife, who comes to The Alluvian and enjoys the spa.
“I came down here with her, but what I do is work in communities,” he said. Exploring Greenwood led him to bring his ideas before the council in hopes of a partnership.
Councilmen David Jordan of Ward 6 and Carl Palmer of Ward 7 both expressed interest in meeting further with Sanders.
“I think it’s a great concept,” Mayor Carolyn McAdams said.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Lisa Cookston was absent from Monday’s meeting.
In other city business:
• Brantley Snipes, executive director of Main Street Greenwood, invited council members to come out and support her organization’s annual event, ’Que on the Yazoo, scheduled for the weekend of May 5 and 6. The event will include a Memphis Barbecue Network-sanctioned cookoff, a steak and kids’ burger cookoff, live music and vendors in downtown Greenwood.
This year’s event will also feature a Beer Run down Grand Boulevard from the Keesler Bridge to the Tallahatchie Bridge and back, as well as a Whole Hog Motorcycle Ride and Show up Money Road and back to downtown’s Howard Street. For more information, visit www.queontheyazoo.com.
• The council approved a resolution to place speed bumps on Avenue H in Ward 5, where residents have complained of speeding.
Ward 1’s Johnny Jennings withheld approval, saying he “will not support speed bumps unless they’re built right.”
• The council approved a $250 donation to the North Central Area Agency on Aging to print information cards for the elderly, and $300 to Betty Aden, the current Ms. Senior Mississippi, to help defray the costs of her trip to the national pageant in Las Vegas.
• Baptist Town resident and volunteer Carl Winters invited council to meet at Hoover’s grocery on Saturday, April 22, to help with the Baptist Town Clean Up event. The public is invited to the clean-up from 9 a.m. to noon. Refreshments will be provided.
• McAdams announced that sales tax figures for March were slightly down from February but are still up from last year at this time.
• Council approved the purchase of four vehicles by the Greenwood Police Department, including two 2016 Dodge Chargers from Cannon Motors and two 2014 Ford Fusions from Kirk Brothers.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
