36th Governor’s Service Awards

36th Governor’s Service Awards

Governor Larry Hogan joined the 36th Annual Governor’s Service Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism at the Maryland Hall in Annapolis last night, to celebrate the outstanding volunteer contributions of Maryland residents and organizations. A total of 19 honorees received awards in categories including First Responders, Government Employee, Businesses, Nonprofit, Veteran, Lifetime Achievement, Emerging Leader, and the prestigious Governor’s Champion of Service – presented by the governor to James Piper Bond, President and CEO of the Living Classrooms Foundation.

Recipients of the Governor’s Service Awards are selected upon their outstanding service in 2018, exemplified by sustained volunteer commitment to meeting Maryland’s most pressing human and environmental community needs, extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity, and measurable impact. Read more about the Governor’s Service Awards here.

Governor’s Champion of Service Award Honoree, James Piper Bond, President and CEO of Living Classrooms Foundation. Annually, the foundation serves 25,000 Marylanders and operates programs at 30 campuses across Maryland. Living Classrooms has invested their three decades of experience and success into a long-term strategic initiative, the Baltimore Target Investment Zone – which has helped another half million citizens to disrupt the cycle of generational poverty and reduce interrelated issues of high crime, low educational levels, and poor health to make the city safer, stronger, healthier, and more prosperous.

Lifetime Achievement Honoree, Mary Morgal, with Governor Larry Hogan. Ms. Morgal, 91 years old, has served with the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary since 1953, and has served as the president since 1960. Over her lifetime of service, she has consistently volunteered at least 125 hours every year, totaling up to more than 8,250 hours serving the community.

Read about the remarkable impacts our honorees have made to Maryland communities from their bios.

A full list of 2019 award recipients is provided below by category: 

• Governor’s Champion of Service Award: James Piper Bond, President and CEO of the Living Classrooms Foundation (Baltimore)
• AmeriCorps Alum: Robert Zellner, Director of Client Services of the Awakenings Recovery Center (Washington County)
• Corporate Business: Morgan Properties (Baltimore); Thermo Fisher Scientific (Frederick County)
• Emerging Leader: Jessica Tinnin, Fishes & Loaves Pantry (Baltimore)
• Faith-Based: Asma Inge-Hanif, Founder of Inge Benevolent Ministries (Baltimore); Mosaic Christian Church (Howard County)
• First Responder: Sergeant Adam Davies, Flight Paramedic for the Maryland State Police Aviation Command (Anne Arundel County); Detective Caprice Bellamy of the Anne Arundel County Police Department (Anne Arundel County)
• Group/Team: Athletes Serving Athletes (Baltimore)
• Individual: Wendy Notari, Warrior Canine Connection (Montgomery County)
• Life Achievement: Mary Morgal, President of Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary (Montgomery County)
• Member of the Board: Thomas Albero, President and CEO of Alliance Material Handling, Inc. and Board Member of Nourish Now (Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties)
• National Service: Mekhi Jones, AmeriCorps ECHOSTARS (Allegany County)
• Nonprofit Volunteer Program: CRAB – Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (Anne Arundel County)
• Veteran: Sandra Blakeslee, Senior Airman for the United States Airforce (Baltimore)
• Small Business: Edwards Performance Solutions (Howard County, Baltimore); Turning Point Solutions (Prince George’s County)
• Government Employee/Agency: Linas Saurusaitis, Emergency Medical Services Captain of Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Fire Rescue Department (Carroll County)

Click here to find more photos and here for a press release.