ADRIAN — The Lenawee County branch of the NAACP will hold its 30th annual Freedom Fund banquet on Sunday, Oct. 13, in the Adrian Tobias Center at Adrian College. The event begins with a meet-and-greet at 3:30 p.m., and the dinner and program will begin at 4 p.m.

The theme of the event is “All In,” and the keynote speaker will be Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden. 

The Freedom Fund banquet includes the presentation of the NAACP’s annual Community Service Award. Two community members will be honored this year.

Local business owner Don Lofton is being recognized for his dedication to the Adrian community, his role in providing employment to many people, and his volunteerism, which includes helping with the NAACP’s annual Juneteenth event, the M Society’s Lenawee Pride festival, the Daily Bread, back-to-school school supply distributions, and more.

Lizbeth Perez-Cazares, who oversees bilingual programs at the Adrian District Library, is being recognized for not just providing services to Spanish-speaking patrons of the library, but also working to preserve Latino and Hispanic history through the library’s Heritage Room, providing community-building programs, and many more activities.

Tickets to the Freedom Fund banquet are $75 each. A table of eight may be reserved for $600. For more information, email [email protected].