NASHVILLE, TN — The Northwest Nashville Civitan Club will host its 56th annual Clergy Appreciation Celebration on Monday, February 4, 2019 at Swett’s Restaurant, 2725 Clifton Avenue from 6 – 7:30 p.m. This year’s theme, Civitans Celebrating Clergy Activism, will recognize clergy active in social justice and the Rev. Dr. Charles Kimbrough will be the honoree. The Reverend Vernita Lewis from the NAACP will be the dinner speaker.
Rev. Dr. Kimbrough, retired veterinarian and minister, continues to dedicate his life and time to social justice and racial reconciliation. After receiving his degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1960 from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, Dr. Kimbrough became one of the first African Americans to hold a license to practice veterinary medicine in the state of Tennessee. As a former past president of the Tennessee branch of the NAACP, he spearheaded a surge in chapter memberships and addressed civil rights issues within the local African American community.
Civitan Club, International was founded in 1917 and has more than 30,000 members worldwide. Civitan International is dedicated to serving the local communities of its members. Using the structure of building local clubs, Civitan equips its members to address local needs with local solutions.
Civitan is the only service organization dedicated to serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). In 1956, Civitan membership unanimously adopted service to I/DD as the major project focus of the international organization. Today, Civitan supports the Civitan International Research Center in Birmingham, Alabama where more than 100 researchers work on diseases that impact the lives of 1 in 6 people worldwide.