SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Black Women Form Branch of Council

The National Council of Negro Women Inc., a nationally known leadership and service organization for black women, has opened a branch in the San Fernando Valley.

The goal of the new chapter will be “to help promote and strengthen the traditional family structure and enhance education” in the African-American community, said Barbara Perkins, newly elected president of the Valley branch.

The organization also will work to unify the efforts of the many groups working in the Valley’s African-American community, “which is really spread out,” Perkins said.

“NCNW is attempting to be the catalyst to bring these groups together,” she said.

Officials plan to work closely with existing groups that provide tutoring and after-school programs for youths.

Regional Director Meda Chamberlain encouraged Perkins and others to start a Valley branch after discovering that many women were traveling from the Valley to Los Angeles to participate in the organization’s activities, Perkins said.

Founded in 1935 by educator Mary McLeod Bethune, the organization has more than 250 chapters nationwide.

The Los Angeles branch hosts the Black Family Reunion, a summer festival attended by thousands, each year.

The Valley branch will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Campus Center building at Mission College, 13356 Eldridge Ave., Sylmar.