U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and recently retired state senator Jennie Forehand are among those who will be honored later this month in Bethesda at the annual Montgomery Serves Awards.
Perez and Forehand are two of the winners of the Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Award, established in 2012 as Montgomery County’s equivalent to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Nix was the second black member of the county’s Board of Education and served as president of the county branch of the NAACP.
County Executive Isiah Leggett will present the awards at the event, set for 6:30 p.m. on April 27 at Imagination Stage (4908 Auburn Avenue).
Perez, a former Montgomery County Council member, is being honored for being “a champion of access and opportunity for all.” Forehand retired from the state senate last year after 36 years representing county residents in Annapolis.
The third Roscoe R. Nix award will go posthumously to Inez Zeigler McAbee, a “mover and shaker” in Damascus who fought against segregation in that community.
Other award winners include senior housing advocate Jean Brady and adult support center volunteer Karin Wilson. Yidong Hu will receive the Youth award for leading the effort to create the Children’s Corner Club, which raised thousands of dollars for the Children’s Inn at NIH.
Washington Gas will be presented the Business award for its volunteer projects and Darren Duvall, a formerly homeless man who has volunteered at a homeless lunch program for 18 years, will get the Community Service award for an individual.
The county’s Volunteer Center hosts the event in partnership with the Fund for Montgomery. The ceremony and reception are free and open to the public, but reservations are required as seating is limited.
