Helping Hearts honors Edward B. Jones

The Tri-City Helping Hearts Foundation honored one St. Mary Parish man who has been active in civil rights causes and and heard from a St. Mary woman who urged members to even greater service.
Helping Hearts, formed to help needy families pay funeral expenses, chose Edward B. Jones of Patterson as the honoree at the organization’s annual banquet at the St. Mary Parish Senior Citizens Center. Erica Johnson Rose, an assistant district attorney in the 16th Judicial District and Franklin’s city prosecutor, was the guest speaker.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in business management at California State University in San Bernardino in 1991. In 1996, he was awarded his juris doctorate at Southern University. He has worked as a sports agent and is a volunteer coach for Biddy Basketball and Pop Warner Football.
In 1995, Jones founded a St. Mary Parish chapter of 100 Black Men, an organization devoted to the betterment of African-American communities. In 2004, Jones was the NAACP’s Louisiana voter empowerment coordinator.
“This is a journey I’m on,” Jones said as he accepted the award, “and I am a vehicle. God is the driver.”
Rose, the keynote speaker, cited the examples of public service set by Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Kennedy.
“They changed not only a nation, but the world,” Rose said.
But smaller acts of public service are important, too, she said. One of them is jury duty.
“Instead of, when you get that subpoena, trying to think of everything you can think of to get out of going, go ahead and serve,” Rose said.
She talked about prosecuting the man who sexually abused a girl beginning when she was 10. After the man was convicted, the victim, who was 12 by then, wrote to Rose to say she was bringing her grades up again and was back on the honor roll.
“’When I grow up, I want to be a lawyer just like Miss Erica …,’” Rose said, quoting the letter. “’I can’t express how grateful I am to you and the jury.’”

This story was written by Bill Decker of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at bdecker@daily-review.com.