Las Vegas NAACP Honors PR Professional Reggie Burton With 2022 Legacy Builder Award

HENDERSON, Nev. - Feb. 24, 2022 - PRLog -- As a special recognition and in celebration of Black History Month, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Branch 1111 recently awarded Southern Nevada public relations professional Reggie Burton with its distinguished Legacy Builder Award for 2022.

Burton was selected for making a profound and positive difference in the community through his work at the Avery Burton Foundation. ABF was founded by Burton and his family to honor his son, Avery Rashawn Burton, who two months after graduating from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), suffered a major depressive episode and took his life in July 2017 at age 22. He had just received his degree in May 2017 in Kinesiological Science and planned to pursue a doctoral degree in physical therapy at UNLV.

To honor Avery's memory and warn families about the dangers of depression, the Burton family started a scholarship in his name. The Avery Burton Excellence in Academics and Sports Scholarship ensures his legacy will live on through the work of the ABF and storytelling initiatives, including the Resilience Project, which publishes student essays to ensure they have their voices heard and inspire hope for others struggling with the mental health toll from isolation.

"We are delighted to honor your acts of dedication, courage, compassion, selflessness, perseverance and sacrifice for our community," Roxann McCoy, president of Las Vegas Branch 1111 of the NAACP, said. "You are an outstanding example of how one ordinary person could accomplish an extraordinary accomplishment with just simple dedication and determination."

"It's nice to be recognized by the NAACP for my work as a mental health advocate helping to end the stigma in our community," Burton said.

Burton started his professional career as a print journalist at the Reno Gazette-Journal. He entered the professional sports arena as a public relations specialist for the San Diego Chargers, where he worked Super Bowl IV and Super Bowl XXX for the National Football League. He furthered his professional communications career as a publicist for the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Reno, NV, and was quickly promoted to public relations manager for Circus Circus Las Vegas. Burton went on to become director of corporate communications for Mandalay Resort Group and MGM Mirage.

Burton started his own successful public relations firm, RB Group – Public Relations, a certified minority-owned business enterprise (MBE) while remaining active in the Southern Nevada community by serving as chairman of the Board of Directors for Vegas PBS.

For more information please visit: http://www.averyburtonfoundation.org.

ABF is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 that provides advocacy, educational resources and seeks to end the stigma around mental health. This is done through impactful storytelling via the ABF Resiliency Project and providing Mental Health First Aid tips.