GRAND FORKS (AP) - NAACP members say they have started a chapter in North Dakota, one of the last two states to have such a group.

Ronald Cooper is the president of the new state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He said the Grand Forks Northern Lights Branch is helping the group mark its centennial, and it leaves Vermont as the only state without a chapter.

Cooper said an NAACP chapter must have at least 100 members. He said 107 have signed up in Grand Forks so far.

"They are from across the state and parts of Minnesota, from the Thief River Falls area to the Bismarck-Mandan area," Cooper said.

Cooper, who retired after 24 years in the Air Force, works as a civilian at Grand Forks Air Force Base. He also is a pastor of the New Beginnings Christian Center in Emerado. He and others began organizing the new NAACP chapter in early 2007. They said anyone is welcome to join.

"This organization isn't simply established for minorities or people of color, but it's here to support anyone who feels they don't have a voice, or needs to be heard," Cooper said.

The NAACP has about 300,000 members nationwide, a spokeswoman said.