OCEAN CITY — Maintaining a small group for decades in South Jersey to act as a beacon for human rights and a voice for the voiceless takes work. That small group almost folded into obscurity.
When the South Jersey Chapter of Amnesty International — Group 543 — was recognized by the national organization in March with the Hironaka Award, Amnesty’s area coordinator David Rendell talked not only of what it took to earn the award, but what and who helped keep it going. He also spoke about what it will take to go on in the future.
“For over 30 years, Group 543 has been a steady beacon for human rights in Ocean City, N.J. — a voice for the voiceless where advocacy is rarely easy,” Rendell said in a short speech at the ceremony in Washington, D.C., where Ocean City’s group was honored.
“In 2025, they sent 1,600 appeals, each humanized by a photograph to ensure officials look into the eyes of those forgotten,” he said. “This group exists only because Georgina Shanley literally emerged from a dark, stormy night decades ago to save a then-failing group.
“Under her leadership, they’ve carried Palestinian stories to the UN and walked beside local immigrant families facing ICE. By providing the tools to speak truth to power, they ensure anyone can join the fight,” he told the audience.
Rendell told the Sentinel that he has been a volunteer area coordinator for Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) for 37 years, and when he began, his mission was to build a human rights infrastructure in New Jersey.
“Group 543 is a direct evolution of that effort — the result of two original groups I helped form,” Rendell said, “but building a group is one thing; keeping it alive is another. There was a moment when Group 543 was on the verge of disappearing entirely.”
When he referenced a dark and stormy night in his speech, he wasn’t waxing poetic. He was talking about how Shanley changed the group’s trajectory.
Shanley said she was already a member of Amnesty International in April 1991, having grown up in Ireland and aware of the organization’s human rights work, when a third letter came from Rendell, begging for help with the local chapter. Rendell claimed the chapter was ready to be disbanded if more people did not show up.
When she “roused” herself to come to the first meeting because her sons then were 5 and 7 years old, she arrived to find just two other people in Cape May Court House.
“I was puzzled as to how three of us handwriting letters to officials could make an impact,” Shanley told the Sentinel. “Finally, with the help of creative people in Ocean City where we lived, we decided to hold a dance to raise consciousness and funds. The following February on an extremely stormy night where the wind howled and the rain pelted, seven local bands donated their time and music to human rights.
“Besides having to move the drum set out of the way of a roof leak, it was a spectacular night,” she said. “We were able to send a donation to Amnesty USA and to have petitions signed on behalf of victims of human rights abuses.”
She explained her group always has believed in uniting people through art, music and education. The Ocean City Music Pier, she added, was a “perfect venue” for many performances and the Ocean City Free Public Library allowed Amnesty to host poetry readings and lectures.
Shanley and her family lived in Ocean City for 35 years before moving to Red Bank. Her children with Dr. Steve Fenichel attended public school in the resort, where she and other volunteers ran an after-school program for 17 years with the support of Ocean City, which provided a safe space for the children, and local organizations offering help and food.
Shanley said Amnesty International is not a political organization and does not endorse politicians or political parties.
“Instead,” she said, “it promotes a human rights agenda for all victims of human rights abuses regardless of their politics or background. Its mandate is taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in 1977 it won the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Amnesty’s vision is “a world where everyone can enjoy the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights mechanisms,” according to the organization that touts 10 million members.
Core values include international solidarity, effective action for the individual victim, global coverage, universality and indivisibility of human rights, impartiality and independence and democratic and human rights. (amnesty.org)
Shanley said continuing efforts with Amnesty International is “essential.” Rendell agrees.
“Many of us are getting on in years and my greatest hope is that the legacy this group has established can be passed to a younger generation — to those who share a passion for human rights, not just in distant lands, but right here in our own back yard,” Rendell said.
“We are living in a time where the specter of authoritarianism is rising,” Shanley said. “We are seeing the curtailing of rights, including freedom of speech, press throughout the world, civic space narrowing — i.e. arresting peaceful protesters — and the never-ending proliferation of gun violence,” she said.
The group meets from 4:30 to 6 p.m. the first Monday of each month at the Ocean City Free Public Library. Learn more by calling (267) 566-9335 or emailing amnestysj@yahoo.com
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
Photos provided
