Montgomery Serves Awards 2014
Congratulations to the winners of the Montgomery Serves Awards! It was an amazing night. See the Red Carpet video and pictures from the event!
View Winners Bios
| Rosco R. Nix Awards | Neal Potter Awards | Montgomery Serves Awards | |
| Reverend Leon Grant | Joe Howard | Jason Amboo | |
| Dr. Michael Lin | Mona Negm | The JBG Companies | |
| Nancy Scull | Lorig Charkoudian | ||
| World of Montgomery Award | Chevy Chase At Home | ||
| Bruce Adams |
Thank you to Fund for Montgomery for sponsoring this event!!
Awards winners, along with
Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership award recipients, were honored on
MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2014 AT IMAGINATION STAGE IN BETHESDA AT 6:30 PM
These awards honor some of our County’s most outstanding community leaders and dedicated volunteers. “Montgomery County is the very special place it is today in large part because many extraordinary public citizens work every day to make it special,” Leggett said in encouraging residents to submit award nominations of individuals, businesses, and community groups. Scroll down to see winners in all categories below.
Click to see the surprise award for Public Citizen of the Year!
ROSCOE R. NIX DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARD
The Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Award will be presented by County Executive Ike Leggett to an individual or individuals who, over the course of their distinguished lives of community service, have made extraordinary contributions to the quality of our community at the very highest levels of excellence. First presented in 2012, the Nix award is the County’s equivalent of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the local version of the nation’s highest civilian award.
This prestigious award was established by the County Executive to honor community icon Roscoe Nix who gave a half century of service to Montgomery County. Mr. Nix served as President of the Montgomery County Branch of the NAACP, Member of the Montgomery County Board of Education, and in many other ways. Click here for a bio of Roscoe Nix.
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Reverend Leon Grant - SEE VIDEO Reverend Leon Grant has led an exemplary life of faith and service. As the Senior Pastor of the Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville, Maryland since 1987, Rev. Grant has reached beyond the walls of his church to serve the broader community and help move us closer to Dr. King’s Beloved Community. Born in Congaree, South Carolina, Rev. Grant graduated from South Carolina State University with a B.S. in Business Administration. In preparation for the ministry, he studied at Washington Bible College and Howard University and earned his Masters of Theological Studies from Wesley Theological Seminary in 1980. Mount Calvary, established in the Lincoln Park community in 1902, makes a positive impact on the residents of Rockville, Montgomery County, and the surrounding communities of the Washington region. Community services include day care for young children, tutoring for children K-12, health programs for all ages, a shelter for homeless women with young children, and housing for seniors and low-income families. The church collects and distributes clothing and back-to-school supplies and assists with food, rent, utilities, and emergency medical needs. Rev. Grant’s community leadership extends beyond the local church and community, including service on the Montgomery County Correctional Facility Community Advisory Committee, Member of NAACP Montgomery County Chapter, Field Education Supervisor at Wesley Theological Seminary, and Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Mental Health Association. In presenting Leon Grant with the Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Award, County Executive Ike Leggett said: “By galvanizing his parishioners to serve our neighbors in need and opening his sanctuary to the wider community, Reverend Leon Grant has set a standard of moral, ethical, and spiritual leadership for our community. As a steadfast and consistent voice of reason, Reverend Grant has served as a conscience of our community for nearly three decades.” |
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Dr. Michael Lin - SEE VIDEO Michael Lin represents the American ideal of the consummate professional who focuses his skills on serving the greater community good. A world class biomedical scientist, Dr. Lin has used his talents to empower underrepresented communities and help Montgomery County build one of America’s most welcoming communities. Born in Xiamen, China, Michael Lin grew up in Taiwan and came to the United States fifty years ago. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Medical College of Georgia. During his five years of post-doctoral training at Rockefeller University in New York, his work on enzyme chemistry was cited in his mentors’ Nobel Prize lecture. Michael continued his professional career as a biomedical scientist at the National Institutes of Health for the next thirty-five years. For more than two decades, Michael Lin has assumed various leadership roles within the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), including National Executive Director and National President. Most recently, Dr. Lin helped secure passage of Congressional resolutions acknowledging the injustice of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Laws. Locally, Michael Lin helped found the Asian American Political Alliance to encourage the Asian community to participate more fully in all aspects of civic life. He has also served as the chair of the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and as a member and chair of the Board of Trustees at the Montgomery College. In presenting Michael Lin with the Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Award, County Executive Ike Leggett said: “Michael Lin has brought to Montgomery County an extraordinarily rich diversity of experience at the national, state, and local levels in fields of education and science. Michael Lin has served as a role model for bringing people together across lines of racial and ethnic difference to help us build one of America’s most welcoming and successful communities.” |
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Nancy Scull - SEE VIDEO Nancy Scull has dedicated her life to the service of our neighbors in need. As a community volunteer and a public servant, Nancy Scull has been a stellar advocate and tireless worker for programs that promote family self-sufficiency and affordable housing. Born Nancy Spering in Washington, DC, Ms. Scull attended Montgomery County public schools through tenth grade and graduated from Madeira School. In addition to a Diploma from the Sorbonne, Nancy Scull has earned a B.A. from American University, M.S. from Georgetown University, and M.Ed. from the University of Hawaii. Nancy Scull began her professional career as a social worker in Montgomery County government in the 1970s. Since 1993, she has served as coordinator of the Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS) at Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC). The Montgomery County FSS program has been recognized as a national model since its inception. As president of Bethesda HELP and Silver Spring HELP and a founding board member of Shepherd’s Table soup kitchen in Silver Spring, Ms. Scull’s three decades of community volunteer service have helped provide emergency assistance and meals to thousands of our most vulnerable individuals and families. Since the late 1990s, Ms Scull has served as a board member of the Bernie Scholarship Awards Program, providing college and vocational training funds for residents of assisted housing programs in Montgomery County. In presenting Nancy Scull with the Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Award, County Executive Ike Leggett said: “Thanks to the courage, commitment, and tenacity of Nancy Scull, Montgomery County faces challenging social issues many other jurisdictions choose to ignore. Working tirelessly as a public servant and as a community volunteer, often in the background, Nancy Scull helps stabilize the lives of vulnerable families and put them on the path to self-sufficiency.” |
NEAL POTTER PATH OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDSIn partnership with the Montgomery County Commission on Aging and The Beacon NewspapersThe Neal Potter Path of Achievement Awards will honor two recipients 60 years of age or better whose accomplishments and lifelong commitment to volunteer service make them outstanding roles models for young and old alike. The name of the award honors former County Executive Neal Potter. |
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Joe Howard Joe Howard’s vision and steadfast work have crafted the environment of Montgomery County for over 50 years. Due to his efforts, Montgomery County Public Schools established an overnight environmental education program for all its sixth graders and built the Lathrop Smith Environmental Education Center. Joe worked on the original advisory board of the Montgomery County Conservation Corps serving as its Chair for 5 years. This program was set up to help youths who had dropped out of school or were searching for life direction find their calling by helping the environment. Soon after retirement in 1989, Joe began and still manages Montgomery County’s Champion Tree Program. The data collected by Joe and others through this program shaped the county’s groundbreaking Forest Conservation legislation. At 83 years old, Joe is still teaching future generations. He instituted Community Service Days by the Montgomery County Forestry Board (on which he’s served for 35 years) at the Audubon Naturalist Society, Rockville Cemetery, the Lathrop Smith Center, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. SEE VIDEO |
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Mona Negm Mona is described as “the angel” for her 40 years of relentless work for those with no voice: refugees, the elderly, the low income ethnic minorities, and women from developing countries. One early volunteer experience began from her work with the Pump House community, seeing the need for outreach, education and community engagement to low income African Americans. She visited with neighbors, organizing and empowering them to stand together as one voice with city government. Mona also works with the Lutheran Church to provide new arrivals with information about food, jobs, housing, and services. She has developed a monthly program for older adults at the Muslim Community Center, recruiting 30 volunteers to assist with the friendly visitor program, organizing transportation needs, and managing events and speakers. Mona volunteers with The Senior Connection and was appointed by our County Executive to serve on Montgomery County’s Commission on Aging from 2009-2012. She is also a member of local interfaith groups and has greatly contributed to the interfaith dialogue that is taking place in Montgomery County. SEE VIDEO |
MONTGOMERY SERVES AWARDThese awards recognize those who have given extraordinary community service or volunteerism during 2013. The award is given in four categories. Nominees must either live, work, or serve in Montgomery County, service must have been performed outside the context of a nominee’s paid employment, and recognizes service, rather than philanthropy. Past winners are ineligible to win in the same category.
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Youth - Jason Amboo Jason Amboo, a 13 year old at Eastern Middle School, has logged more than 400 volunteer hours with Montgomery Housing Partnerships (MHP) in 2013, the most of any volunteer. A previous student of the Glenville Road Afterschool Homework Club, Jason is now a tutor and mentor to other kids. He spends 4 days a week tutoring students and helping them in the computer lab. Jason and three other friends worked with MHP in creating the Glenville Road Green Club in 2011. In 2013 they built a community garden at the Long Branch Community Center in partnership with BB&T Bank. He also led the Glenville Road Green Club in recruiting neighbors to participate in various community cleanups. Jason spoke to groups between 20 – 250 people at MPH outreach events, sharing his inspiring story about the positive impact that affordable housing can have on a neighborhood when the residents are engaged. Jason was the featured speaker at MHP’s 2nd Annual Benefit Breakfast. |
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Business - The JBG Companies The JBG Companies created the JBG Cares program more than a decade ago to formalize and better facilitate ongoing charitable work. “Part of being a responsible partner is giving back to the communities where we do business”. During the 2013 Days of Giving, about 400 JBG employees volunteered more than 1,600 hours with 10 charities. JBG volunteers donated about 180 hours with Habitat for Humanity, rebuilding a house for a single mother in need of an affordable home. JBG also organized its second annual Twinbrook Extreme Cleanup with Rock Creek Conservancy. Volunteers and JBG employees spent a day cleaning up Rock Creek Park. An estimated 4,000 pounds of debris was collected. Nine teams of JBG employees—about 135 volunteers—worked at A Wider Circle contributing about 550 hours. There is no mandate that employees participate in the Days of Giving, yet close to 90 percent of JBG’s employees have volunteered annually! |
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Individual - Lorig Charkoudian Lorig Charkoudian is a passionate community activist with a commitment to food justice issues. She has served as a volunteer leader on the Takoma Park Silver Spring Community Kitchen Coalition since 2011. In 2013 to raise the remaining $31,000 needed for the Kitchen, Lorig was sponsored by community members to run a 31-mile trail race. Now, the coalition is working closely with the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church to design the new kitchen, which will operate on a sliding-scale with focus on local, low-income micro-entrepreneurs. As Board President of the Crossroads Community Food Network, Lorig has led the organization through the hiring of an Executive Director, development and adoption of a Letter of Intent to manage the Kitchen, significant program changes, and strategic plan implementation. On top of her job Lorig spends an average of 10-12 hours a week volunteering contributing an estimated 572 hours in 2013. |
| Group - Chevy Chase At Home Chevy Chase At Home (CC@ H) was organized by a group of neighbors who wanted to establish resources that would enable residents to age in place. For the last five years volunteers have worked tirelessly to launch and grow CC@H Village. In 2013, 53 volunteers assisted residents on over 700 occasions. Volunteers provided transportation, respite care, performed minor household repairs and yardwork, and provided technology assistance. Volunteers led support groups, and initiated clubs and exercise classes. Over 35 people participated in committees that organize events, fundraisers, and trainings. CC@ H has expanded and now includes the Town of Chevy Chase, Chevy Chase Village, Chevy Chase, Section 5, Chevy Chase, Section 3, Martin’s Additions, Rollingwood, and the Old Hamlet. In response to growing interest, CC@ H created affiliates to connect with neighboring communities and offers Volunteer Training Sessions to help others learn how to expand the Village movement. Their Volunteer Training Manual has been shared with Villages as far away as California.  Photo provided by John Barnes |
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