CHARLOTTE — The steering committee for North Carolina’s annual Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner named the recipients of their 2012 awards today.
The HRC North Carolina Gala is slated to grace the Crown Room, the city’s new banquet hall at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, on Saturday, Feb. 25. There, the group, the largest LGBT civil rights organization in the country, will honor several community leaders and organizations that are working to ensure equality at home and across the state.
The group will present its Equality Award to the Farewell to Summer Foundation, which presents its annual White Party every September. Longtime volunteer and HRC Board of Governors member Scott Bishop will be honored with a volunteer of the year award. The Rev. Debbie Warren, founder of the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN), will receive HRC’s annual Legacy Award. The LGBT Center of Raleigh will receive the group’s Trailblazer Award.
HRC’s North Carolina Gala Steering Committee says the winners were chosen from the largest poll of nominees in recent years.
“We are thankful and grateful for those individuals and groups that are creating equality in our communities,” Aaron Parker Steering Committee Awards and Scholarship chair, said in a release. “It is our pleasure to honor them for their hard work and dedication.”
The annual dinner has been held in Raleigh for the last two years. Organizers announced its return to Charlotte earlier this year. The Queen City had hosted the dinner since 2005, when it attracted a record 1,300-plus crowd. In 2007, the dinner included more than 1,500 guests — the largest HRC fundraising dinner excluding the national dinner in Washington, D.C. The first HRC galas in the state were held in Greensboro in 1996 and 1997. The event then moved to Raleigh from 1998 through 2002. Greensboro hosted the dinners again in 2003 and 2004.
For more information, visit hrccarolina.org.