Lebanon native Beth Aminov, who moved back to the city in 2015 after years living abroad, is organizing the effort. It comes during a summer marked by protests over the death in May of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

Aminov first had the idea years ago, when she contacted the state NAACP conference for help addressing an issue facing her son. It was then she learned that Lebanon didn't have a branch of its own. Her four kids urged her to form one.

At the time, Aminov was concerned it would cause blow back from the community, she said. But after Floyd's death and nationwide protests over racism and police conduct, Aminov's children again urged her to take action.

"My kids said, 'Mom, what are you waiting for? The time is now. We need people to step up,'" Aminov said.

So, Aminov - who said she usually likes to work behind the scenes - decided to step up and reached out to the NAACP.

When dozens gathered in Annville on July 5 to hear an oration of Frederick Douglass' famed 1852 speech, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" Aminov took the opportunity to get her effort off the ground.

She talked to Michael Schroeder, a community activist who ran for state senate earlier this year and organized daily protests in Annville after George Floyd's death; Rafael Torres, who formed the Lebanon Diversity Social; and the Rev. Tony Fields of St. John's United Church of Christ in Fredericksburg.

Schroeder, Torres and Fields helped spread the word and organized membership applications to send to Aminov. In early August, Aminov finally had more than 100 applications - enough to send to the state and national NAACP organizations and begin the next steps of chartering a local branch.

n Friday, Aminov said she has received 130 applications, and more are coming in every week. The group still needs approval on the national level but will likely be officially chartered in the coming months, state conference president Kenneth Huston said.

There is a "desperate need" for a branch in Lebanon, Huston said. The NAACP does more than just help address civil and human rights violations, frequently working with local school districts and elected officials on issues, he said.

"We're more than just those that come in and put out the fire. We try to prevent the fire from happening in our respective communities," Huston said.

A multi-racial effort

Aminov, who is white and grew up in Lebanon, said she wanted the group to be as representative as possible - the goal is to reduce the barrier that race has been in getting different communities to work together, Aminov said.

"I think race has been a huge divider for us," Aminov said. "I think that's a huge problem everywhere, but specifically here in Lebanon ... The one thing I know for sure is that no community is going to thrive until all the people in that community have the opportunity to thrive."

For Torres, the chapter is an opportunity to give people of color in Lebanon a way to advocate for themselves.

"Lebanon is way behind in some ways," Torres said. "If we don't make that stand now, it's going to get worse."

Aminov pointed to the NAACP's "game changer" goals as focus areas for the new chapter - economic sustainability, education, health, public safety and criminal justice, voting rights and political representation, and expanding youth participation.

From get-out-the-vote campaigns to work on education and economic equality, Schroeder said the chapter could be a useful "umbrella organization" to connect people working on different issues in the county.

Fields hopes the chapter becomes a space for people of color to gather, share concerns, experiences, and just be themselves.

"We don't really gather and get an understanding of each other," Fields said. "It's important to start having that dialogue."