[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E862-E863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NORTHEAST DISTRICT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NEGRO BUSINESS AND 
           PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S CLUBS 42ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2000

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the Northeast District of the National 
Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., 
will hold its 42nd Annual District Conference at the Doubletree 
Somerset Hotel in Somerset New Jersey from June 2nd through June 4th.
  The theme of the conference is ``Leadership By Example: Yesterday, 
Today and Tomorrow.'' What an appropriate theme: for the challenge of 
leading by example has been the driving force behind this great 
organization, on the national level, throughout the Northeast District, 
and especially the Central Jersey Club. The organization, through its 
leadership,

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helps to plant the seeds from which many projects grow, both from 
within and from outside the organization.
  The Central Jersey Club was one of the first organizations to give an 
AIDS/HIV workshop in the Central New Jersey area, and they also care 
for AIDS babies at St. Clare's Home in Neptune, NJ. The Club also 
provides career awareness programs, offers scholarships to needy 
students, works with the homeless by tutoring the clients and teaching 
them to knit, and donates clothing and Easter egg hunts for children. 
Some clubs donated food baskets to the needy during Thanksgiving, 
Christmas and Easter, and they celebrated Women's History Month by 
sponsoring essay contests at various schools. The North Jersey Unit 
promoted and implemented at the local level the Leontyne Price Vocal 
Arts Competition for talented African American opera singers. The 
winner will be competing at the semi-finals at the upcoming conference. 
The Union County Club plays an important part in their community with 
their scholarship program.
  The Northeast Division was organized in 1959, being one of seven 
districts in the organization. The Northeast is the largest in the 
organization, consisting of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Northern New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and the 
Commonwealth of Bermuda.
  As a non-profit organization, the organization's national program 
thrust is Health, Education, Employment and Economic Development 
(HEED). Other projects that clubs participate in are Breast Cancer 
Awareness Programs, Adopt-A-School, Welfare to Work, and Black 
Entrepreneurship programs, among others.
  The Northeast District's involvement in National projects includes 
sponsorship of water wells in Cameroon, and the opening of a health 
care facility in the Village of Atrapa in Ghana. Mary Singletary, past 
national president and a member of the North Jersey Unit, was very 
instrumental in these projects. In addition, the District continues to 
be involved with UNICEF and the United Nations as a non-governmental 
organization.
  I want to salute the great work of Yvonne Harris Jones, the Governor 
of the Northeast District of the National Association of Negro Business 
and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., and all of those whose efforts 
contribute to making this organization such a force for positive change 
in our community.

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