Support Moore's Ford scholarships
Subject: support Moore's Ford scholarships
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:13:30 -0400
April 15, 2010
Dear Friends,
Springtime has arrived and we are fundraising again - for our 11th Annual Moore's Ford Memorial Scholarship program. With our banquet only two weeks away, and dealing also with hard economic times and growth in our program, we send this annual appeal for donations. If you have already given what you can, please accept our thanks!
The respected Moore's Ford Memorial Scholarships continue to catch the attention of teachers, counselors and students from our four-county area: Athens/Clarke, Morgan, Oconee and Walton. We had 34 applications this year. At our April 29 banquet, we will award eight scholarships and eight $100 merit awards. These annual, "living memorials" to the Dorseys and Malcoms showcase students interested in public and community service, social justice and racial healing. Anything that connects us with these fine young people is where we need to be.
This year's appeal includes an essay from the past: by Eve Bowers from Cedar Shoals High School. Eve wrote about the "self segregation" that occurred during her tenure. Eve's essay is representative of the way many applicants throw their hearts and souls into these applications. We are truly inspired to read them. We also regret not having more scholarships to award.
To sum up: in 1997, we formed a multiracial group of Americans to memorialize two African American couples, George and Mae Murray Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy Malcom, killed by a lynch mob on July 25, 1946, at the Moore's Ford bridge forty miles east of Atlanta. We memorialized the Dorseys and Malcoms with cemetery restorations, gravemarkers, memorial services, a historic sign and annual talent shows. We have also worked with the GBI and FBI, Congressman John Lewis and fellow legislators to prosecute this case.
Having focused initially on the sins of the past, for eleven years we have focused on the promise of the future - scholarships for area high school seniors. We began our program in 2000 and awarded four $1,000 scholarships. With the addition of Morgan County High School in 2009 and Walnut Grove High School in 2011, our program has doubled in size.
The MFMC continues to host annual Christmas parties, cemetery restorations and programs on current issues. Regretfully, we discontinued our Tri-County Talent Show/MLK Celebrations when several key organizers left. We continue to join with other communities that have suffered racial violence. In 2001, 2005, and 2006, we gathered with grass roots memorial groups just like ours for mutual support across the country. But nothing is more important to our Moore's Ford family than scholarships for young people.
If you are troubled by the annual, July 25 reenactments of the Moore's Ford killings at the bridge, they trouble many of us as well. Please note that they are hosted by the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials (GABEO), NOT the MFMC. In 2005, our group voted unanimously to oppose live reenactments with firearms. That remains our position.
A highlight for 2009 was our March 28 film screening/public forum in Monroe. Over 200 persons attended as film maker Keith Beauchamp showed his documentary, Murder in Black and White, the premier screening for Walton County where the Moore's Ford murders occurred. Keith's documentary was shown nationally on TV One. Then top officials from President Obama's FBI and Justice Dept. and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation joined the panel and gave powerful testimony on the Moore's Ford case. They stated what we have long suspected: there have been good leads, strong suspects are still alive and older residents may have enough evidence to lead to prosecution, should they come forward. Ex-Klansman Elwin Wilson, who last year apologized to John Lewis for beating the Georgia congressman in 1961, gave powerful testimony as a panelist.
Savannah TV journalist Melissa Tune called March 28 a "thunderous and passionate call for justice." Both Oconee and Walton board of commission chairmen called for public support for the FBI investigation and demanded justice. Heightened federal interest in Moore's Ford flows from passage of the Emmett Till Bill, creating a special Justice Dept. task force to focus on unsolved, cold case, civil rights murders. We worked hard to promote passage of this bill. Of 100 active cases, Moore's Ford tops the list.
Please remember, however, that our thirteen year effort is about more than putting a few old men in jail. We prefer a wider focus. The scholarship awards, programs for schools and other communities, Christmas parties and different venues for bridging racial divides and bringing people together – this remains our work and our passion.
We remain light on cash, with over 90% of donations supporting the scholarships. We are reaching out to new donors and asking former donors to remember us once again. Recall that:
____ $25 pays for meals for a scholarship finalist and guest
____ $100 from ten people pays for a scholarship
____ $500 and up, donors are thanked at the banquet and listed in the program
____ $1000 scholarship is named for the donor, thanked at the banquet and listed.
We will do our best to continue to earn your trust and support. The MFMC is a 501( c )3 non profit organization; all donations are tax exempt. If you wish inclusion in the banquet program, please call or email us ASAP with your pledge. We are also fundraising for 2011 Moore's Ford Memorial Scholarships and can report your donation then. Mail checks to: Moore's Ford Memorial Scholarships, 480 Stanton Way, Athens, GA 30606
Please join us at our April 29 banquet as we showcase some exceptional young people. Please RSVP by phone or email, but only if you plan to attend.
Directions: take Hwy 78 to the Monroe area, exit on Hwy 11 and head south to downtown Monroe, turn left at the light on Church St., head east several blocks to the Monroe Community Center on the right, a reconditioned, two story brick schoolhouse at 602 East Church St., Monroe, 30655. If lost, call 706-202-7802.
Best wishes from your Moore's Ford family,
Waymond Archie Mundy, chairman Janice Rusk, scholarship coordinator
706-202-7802 cell; 706-354-0321
Rich Rusk (assistant to Janice!) Kirklyn Dixon, vice chairman
richrusk@charter.net
Please reply to richrusk@charter.net
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