Eight years ago, nine Black men convened a meeting at the Hill House that resulted in the formation of The Men of Fifth Avenue High School. The original nine were Orland Leach, Charles “Buddy” Shelton, Edward Blair, Robert “Bobby” Holiday, Alfred Wingfield, Ira Ritter, Milton Thompson, Lawrence Cunningham and yours truly, “Hop” Kendrick. The sole qualification was that you must have attended Fifth Avenue High. It has since been amended that if your family member attended, you can join.  

At the outset, the scholarships were awarded to students with exceptional grades with the intention of going to college, but later it was taken into consideration that there were a number of average students who deserved financial help. We were steadily evolving in our thinking process of helping young people so it was decided that if someone wanted to further their education by becoming a truck driver, barber, hairstylist, bricklayer, plumber, carpenter, or go to any other other related school, that qualified them for financial help.

On July 19, we were able to present checks to three deserving young college-bound men, and that bought the total to 31 people we have been able to help.

The three young recipients were, first, Louis Washington, who will attend Hampton University and  major in journalism. He was out-of-town, so his granddad accepted for him.

The second was Emanuel Matthews, a graduate of Penn Hills High School who will attend North Eastern College where he will major in Spanish and philosophy. Emanuel was impressive with his grade average, appearance and verbal presentation.

The third was Kent L. King, a graduate of Central Catholic, who will attend Johnson C. Smith College where he will major in sports medicine and becoming an agent. Kent also had an impressive grade average, appearance and verbal presentation.

It is my personal conviction that all of us wherever we may live can take a genuine sense of pride in Emmanuel Matthews, Kent King Jr. and Louis Washington. They epitomize the positive young people who seldom get the same coverage as those who stumble and fall.

The organization presented a special award to a member, Stanford David, for his unselfish devotion in ensuring The Men of Fifth Avenue remain viable and functioning in a positive manner.

The officers, who serve the members so well, deserve a public thanks. President Raymond Outlaw, Vice President Reggie Matthews, Secretary Joseph Riser, Treasurer Rev. Alex Piper and Sergeant-At- Arms Stanford David.

If you send a financial contribution to Kingsley Association you can help other young people.

(Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a weekly contributor to the Forum Page.)