Washington, DC — Africare President Julius E. Coles was presented with the 2003 Amistad Achievement Award by the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, on November 1, 2003. The award recognizes Coles' contributions over the past 40 years to the African continent. Coles was also recognized as having been a Crossroads Africa volunteer in Senegal early in his career. With this award, Coles was acknowledged for exemplifying the spirit and vision of Reverend James H. Robinson, who founded Crossroads Africa in 1958 to help build a better understanding and to develop ties between American and African students by having them work together on community development projects in Africa.

The Amistad Center's 18th Awards Ceremony Gala was attended by some 300 supporters of the Center. The recipients of the Center's Achievement Award reflect the goals and mission of the Center, which was established to collect, preserve, and make available to researchers literary and artistic collections that express the history of African-American and African people.

Other recipients of this year's award include Whitney J. LeBlanc, who is a designer, director, writer, producer, and teacher, and Edith Gee Jones, who is the President and Executive Director of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. Previous award recipients have included Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Debbie Allen, Lionel Hampton, Cynthia Tucker, and August Wilson.

Africare is a leader in aid to Africa as well as the oldest and largest African-American organization specializing in African aid. Over its 33-year history, Africare has delivered more than $450 million in assistance representing over 2,000 projeccts and millions of beneficiaries to 35 countries Africca-wide. Today, Africare's 150-plus programs reach families and communities in 25 nations in every region of Sub-Saharan Africa.