Naida Wharton first learned about Planned Parenthood while attending the Phillips Exeter Academy – from a friend who came from Manhattan. PP was “where you could go to get Birth Control without your parents’ permission or knowledge.â€
Later, at Wellesley College, she learned about the tremendous importance of, and the role PP played in, providing excellent and neutral counseling about adoption and abortion in the case of an unplanned pregnancy. She also learned about the significance of PP’s provision of safe abortions for a modest fee.
When finally in “Family Mode,†and pregnant with her second son (in 1986), Naida began actively fundraising for the then “local†Planned Parenthood of Englewood, NJ. She joined the Board of what, by then, had become Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey in the late 1990’s, serving two terms, and where she acted as the Education Liaison. She also served on the committee which reviewed educational materials from many different sources on all topics relating to sex.
For her 45th established (with much advocacy by Naida), “EASE†Campaign (Ensuring Access to Sex Education.)
Planned Parenthood, and particularly the Education Programs, are Naida’s greatest philanthropic commitment. Now, with her youngest child, a daughter in college, teaching Naida about many aspects of sexuality, gender identity, and issues of power and safety about which Naida had been previously unaware / uninformed, her dedication to the cause of the stellar sex education provided by the people involved at this event continues to grow.