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Reflections from NAACP Battle Creek’s 91st Annual Freedom Fund Dinner

On Friday, October 23, 2026, members of our leadership team joined NAACP Battle Creek’s 91st Annual Freedom Fund Dinner at the DoubleTree by Hilton Battle Creek. Goodwill Industries of Central Michigan’s Heartland was proud sponsor of this important celebration for our city.

This year’s theme, “We The People!”, stayed with us. It reminds us that community is built together, and that everyone deserves a fair chance to take part. Announced keynote speaker Dwayne Barnes, a Battle Creek Central graduate, is known for bridging community members and policymakers.

Two missions, one community
The NAACP’s mission is “to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.” Locally, NAACP Battle Creek advocates civil rights, education and community empowerment.

Ours is “Changing Lives Through the Power of Work.” We help people build skills, explore employment, and work toward greater stability. Where the NAACP expands rights and economic security, we help people turn opportunity into work. The two meet economic security and dignity through work.

Where our work meets theirs

Economic security through work
Economic security is part of the NAACP’s mission and the daily focus of our Financial Opportunity Center in downtown Battle Creek, which brings job-search support, resume and interview help, financial coaching and family support together in one place.

Investing in young people
NAACP Battle Creek engages young people through its Youth Council. We focus on youth employment and career exploration, and this fall we joined Battle Creek Central freshmen at a career fair.

Inclusion and dignity for all
The NAACP envisions “an inclusive community rooted in liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination.” We share that spirit: “We welcome and serve individuals from all backgrounds.”

Rooted in Battle Creek
NAACP Battle Creek has served our area for over 100 years. Its annual Freedom Fund Dinner supports programs such as the Heritage Quiz Bowl, voter education, legal redress, and the Youth Council. Doris Clausen, a special-education pioneer and Ann J. Kellogg principal, brought Goodwill to Battle Creek in 1953. Now an independent local nonprofit, we serve 8 Michigan counties and parts of 2 others.

Thank you.
Thank you to NAACP Battle Creek and to everyone who made this year’s dinner possible. Our sponsorship message says it best:

“Together, we advance a more just, equitable and inclusive community, because opportunity belongs to all of us.”