Deidre Walton, president of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA), will be the keynote speaker for the Lexington Chapter of the Black Nurses Association’s first scholarship dinner to be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 26, at the Boone Center on the University of Kentucky campus.

The dinner is a fundraiser for nursing scholarships and criteria for scholarship application will be announced.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to host the national president of the Black Nurse Association (NBNA),” said Penne Allison, director of Emergency Services at UK HealthCare Hospitals and president of the local chapter. “We look forward to hearing her relevant message here in our community. The inaugural scholarship dinner is designed to raise funds for scholarly work of students and nurses in the Greater Lexington Area. The scholarship focus is in line with the national agenda.”

Chairpersons of the dinner are Sophia Brown from UK Chandler Hospital and Peggy Brooks Thompson from Saint Joseph Hospital.

The NBNA is a non-profit organization that represents approximately 150,000 African American nurses from the U.S., Eastern Caribbean and Africa, with 76 chartered chapters nationwide. The organization is committed to excellence in education and conducts continuing education programs for nurses and allied health professionals throughout the year. The association provides annual scholarships for student chapters nationwide.