Johns Hopkins Gazette: January 13, 1997 Form

The 1996 Martin
Luther King Jr.
Awards for
Community Service

Johns Hopkins will celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. with tributes, music and community service awards. This year's event will take place Wednesday, Jan. 15, in Turner Auditorium, from noon to 1:30 p.m., with Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO of the NAACP, as keynote speaker. Ten employees--five from the hospital and health system and five from the university- -will receive Hopkins' Martin Luther King Award for Community Service in recognition of their volunteer work with the community during 1996.

Hospital and
Health System
Recipients

Marian C. Bruce
Administrative Secretary, Department of Parking and Transportation

Marian Bruce is an eight-year member of the Belles of Good Counsel, a local nonprofit fund-raising organization. Bruce participates in and chairs fund-raising activities and events that benefit the homeless, the elderly and youth groups. She also finds time to work with the Johns Hopkins Hospital Cancer Center, Bea Gaddy's homeless shelter, Our Daily Bread, the Girl Scouts and the Cub Scouts.


Julie Ellsworth Cox
Coordinator of Major Gifts and Special Projects, Development Office, Bayview

A tireless volunteer, this year Cox coordinated the Maryland Race for the Cure, which involved more than 8,200 participants and raised more than $300,000 for breast cancer research. It was the most successful race ever for the Baltimore-based event.


Byron Cooper
Customer Service Representative, Materials Distribution Center, Bayview

Byron Cooper has worked with substance abuse patients at the Veterans Administration Hospital for the last four years. He also volunteers to help those who are emotionally and physically challenged, and works with the Block Watch Association of Patterson Park to help keep drugs and crime off the street.


Tonja D. Marell
Clinical Nurse, Adult Emergency Department

Tonja Marell volunteers as a nurse educator for the New Shiloh Baptist Church. She also serves as a board member of the Black Mental Health Alliance, where she has been instrumental in shaping an HIV/AIDS outreach program for adolescent and adult African American women.


Leon C. Purnell
Therapist, Community Psychiatry

Leon Purnell works as a coach and tutor for community organizations, challenging and encouraging East Baltimore young people to be concerned, responsible citizens. He helps people register to vote and provides senior citizens with transportation to and from the polls on election day. Every fall, Purnell volunteers to feed the hungry at Bea Gaddy's Thanksgiving dinner.

University
Recipients

Barbara Fisher
Secretary, Residential Life, Homewood Student Affairs

Barbara Fisher spends two evenings per week instructing students one-on-one in the Greater Homewood Community Corporation's literacy program. Over a period of approximately two and a half years, she has logged over 300 hours of tutorial time. She is seen by her students "as a resource and a friend-- someone who offers both information and infinite encouragement." Barbara is president of the Remington Community Association, and is involved in empowering her community and making it a safe, enjoyable place to live.


M. Chris Gibbons
Neuropathology, School of Medicine

Chris Gibbons actively volunteers in schools and community organizations, motivating youth to excellence by living example. As co-founder of the U-Turn Foundation, Inc., Gibbons works to provide role models, mentors and training to help disadvantaged Baltimore youths improve their lives economically and educationally. He is committed to doing all he can to help others, especially youths, turn their lives around.


Maria Isabel Jones
Library Assistant, Government Publications/Maps/Law Library, Milton S. Eisenhower Library

Maria Isabel Jones is best known for her promotion of and advocacy for Hispanic heritage and culture. In her involvement in the Spanish Apostolate and the Baltimore-Cadiz Sister Cities Committee, and as co-founder of the Club Peru of Maryland, Jones helps to raise funds for schools, senior centers, nursing homes and Hispanic festivals. In her volunteer work she helps to provide a wide range of assistance to Hispanic families of limited economic means.


Kevin A. Rodgers
MPP/Collection Coordinator, Student Accounts, Homewood Student Affairs

Kevin Rodgers has dedicated his life to helping disadvantaged children. He volunteers time and energy to better the lives of children by teaching singing, dancing and acting. At least three times each week, Rodgers commutes to Washington, D.C., by train for rehearsals and performances of the children's choir he founded and directs at the Imani Temple. Under Rodgers' direction, the Anointed Voices of Praise gospel ensemble takes an active role in a wide variety of church and community events.


Sarah Stevens-Rayburn
Librarian, Space Telescope Institute
Don Stevens-Rayburn
Deputy, Computer and Network Services, STScI

Don and Sarah Stevens-Rayburn put forth a joint effort almost every Saturday, rain or shine, to help rebuild abandoned and decrepit houses with Baltimore's Habitat for Humanity in Sand-town. As house leaders, they organize crews and make the right supplies and tools available for the week's jobs to be safely and accurately completed. They have completed five homes from start to finish.


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