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THE CHRONICLE
History I Heritage I Culture, g I
NAACP responds to allegations of fraud regarding
Tonya McDaniel’s handling of grant funds
SUBMITTED ARTICLE
The NAACP issued the fol
lowing statement regarding the
allegation of misappropriation
of funds by the organization’s
vice president, Tonya McDaniel:
The Executive Committee of
the Branch has met with our of
ficers and Tonya McDaniel. We
have also conferred with Blue
print to examine the intent of the
Grant, and whether its purposes
were fulfilled and performed as
intended. We have also exam
ined the payments and verified
that they matched the intent of
the Grant. We are convinced that
the purpose of the Grant was de
livered as intended and therefore
limits our discussion to those
facts.
We have spoken with Tonya
McDaniel as she has acknowl
edged her lapse in judgment
as not in the spirit of the fidu
ciary principles of the NAACP
Branch, but in the spirit of pro
viding service to the community
Submitted photo
Tonya McDaniel
as a whole. Therefore, we ac
knowledge our current process
es, procedures and authorization
of grant procurement for doing
the critical work in this com
munity must be redefined. As a
Finally, we have found no
evidence of misappropriated
funds and the receipts and led
gers of the grant activities were
verified. Hence, Vice President
McDaniel is still a member in
WINSTON SALEM
C ■ A P ' £ R
result, we are in the process of
conducting a full review of the
aforementioned procedures to
ensure that going forward, we
are in full compliance with the
Constimtion and Bylaws of the
NAACP.
good standing of the Branch and
we have no further comment
other than these. Moreover, this
Branch of the NAACP plans to
move forward with the business
before us in harmony, peace, and
unity.
Father’s Day dinner looks to combat rise in senseless gun violence
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Ahead of Father’s Day
weekend, the Women’s
Gun Violence Prevention
Team is hosting a dinner
on Friday evening de
signed to celebrate men
in the community and in
vite them to join the fight
against senseless gun vio
lence.
As of June 15, there
have been 19 homicides in
Winston-Salem compared
to only nine this time last
year, and more than 100
reported shootings. In re
sponse to the rise in ho
micides, shootings, and
other violent crimes, the
Women’s Gun Violence
Prevention Team, a co
alition of local women
geared toward bringing an
end to senseless violence,
is calling men to step up
and get involved with or
ganizations already doing
the work to combat gun
violence in the communi
ty. For the past month, the
team of women have been
coming together regularly
to discuss ways to stop the
Submitted photo
Ahead of Father’s Day, the Women’s Gun Violence Prevention Team is hosting a dinner to combat the rise in senseless gun violence.
violence and prevent the
senseless loss of life.
Nakida McDaniel, one
of the organizers for the
event, said the event is de
signed to encourage men
to get involved and vol
unteer with five different
organizations led by other
men in the community:
10,000 Fearless, Enough
is Enough, HopeDealers,
Rally Up Winston-Salem,
and Beating Up Bad Hab
its.
“These are the orga
nizations that I know do
outreach on the ground in
communities to stop the
violence and we want to
increase their capacity be
cause they’re underfunded
and they don’t have a lot
of volunteers,” McDaniel
said. “We need more peo ¬
ple on the ground in the
community, so we’re go
ing to invite them to come
out and support the work
of these organizations.”
When asked about the
recent rise in violent crime
involving young people,
McDaniel, who is a native
of Winston-Salem, said
she has never seen it this
bad. McDaniel said she
remembers gun violence
being a problem in the late
80s and early 90s, but it
didn’t reach this level.
Earlier this week, Win
ston-Salem made national
news for being one of six
cities across the country to
have a mass shooting over
the weekend. According to
the Winston-Salem Police
Department, on Friday,
June 11. a shooting hap ¬
pened on Devonshire and
Burgundy Streets. Upon
arrival, officers found four
people shot, three were
transported to a local hos
pital, and the fourth was
pronounced dead at the
scene.
One of the victims in
the shooting was 17 years
old. Several other shoot
ings in the city this year
have involved juveniles
under the age of 18.
McDaniel said while
there does need to be a
comprehensive plan to
fight gun violence, there
are other pieces to the
puzzle and community in
volvement is a big piece.
“You gotta have commu
nity involvement. It has to
be for the community and
it has to be community
driven because we connect
to our people better than
anybody else,” she said.
Nykia Ingram, co
founder of Enough is
Enough and another orga
nizer for the event, said
having a father figure
plays an important part in
a child’s development, es
pecially for young boys.
She said the plan after the
dinner is to pair young
boys in the community
with male mentors.
“These young boys are
trying to fill a void or try
to find themselves. And
you know there are a lot
of mothers that are play
ing the role of father at the
same time; but they really
can’t play the role of the
father because they can’t
teach the man how to be a
man,” Ingram continued.
“Faith without works is
dead. Men of this com
munity should be held ac
countable for being that
male figure in these kids’
lives.”
The Father’s Day din
ner hosted by the Women’s
Gun Violence Prevention
Team will be held Friday,
June 18, at the Enterprise
Center, 1922 S. Martin Lu
ther King Jr. Drive. Dinner
is free of charge but men
are asked to register ahead
of the event. Registration
will remain open through
the day of the event. To
register, visit https://ti-
nyurl.com/3vjkzypk.
For more information,
contact Nakida McDaniel
at 336-830-4522 or Nykia
Ingram at 336-473-4642.
Happy Father’s Day
kO