Celebrating Inclusion in 2017!
As the name implies, the Most Valuable Partner (MVP) Community Awards are a way for us to celebrate the partners around the community who are making a difference. Our finalists are businesses, government agencies, service organizations and individuals who are working in the CSRA to create an inclusive community for persons with and without disabilities. This year’s Celebration Lunch is set to be an exciting time as we recognize the finalists and announce the winners for 2017.
This year’s Community Awards Celebration Luncheon was held on Wednesday, October 25 from 10:30 AM until 12:30 PM at the Legends Club in Augusta, GA. Like 2016, the Luncheon was designed to not only honor the Nominees and Winners, but to also provide networking opportunities for the community leaders and innovators.
Our Most Valuable Partners of the Community
The 2017 MVP Community Awards finalists were selected from the public nominations that were submitted over the course of the summer. This year the selection committees were faced with an interesting challenge – many of the nominees fit into multiple categories. Based on that, the committees decided to combine the Inclusive Employment, Community Government & Public Accommodation & Communications Awards into the Inclusive Community Award.
This year’s MVP Community Awards recognized:
Inclusive Community Award Winner – Barney’s Pharmacy
Nominees: Dyas Human Resource Development, Chick-fil-A (North Augusta), and North Augusta High School’s Varsity Football Program;
Outstanding Service Organization Award – Marty Turcios Therapeutic Golf Foundation
Nominees: Signature Speech Services, Dreamcatchers Support Group, and The Master’s Transportation Ministry;
Outstanding Individual Advocate Award – Gerald Powell
Nominees: Bryan Hensley, Mallory Lanier, and Lisa Tindal.
Our Host – Barclay Bishop
We were very excited to welcome back Barclay Bishop as our MVP Community Awards Host & Presenter. Barclay has worked with Walton Options on multiple occasions including hosting a fantastic event last year and co-hosting our Pigskins & Bowties Fundraising Gala in 2015.
Barclay is a co-anchor for Good Morning Augusta at Channel 6. She has been recognized by the readers of Augusta Magazine as one of the best morning anchors/reporters in its popular “Best of Augusta” issue. While Barclay takes great pride in her work at the TV station, she dedicates her personal time to helping those in the CSRA through her service organization “Barclay’s Believers”.
In 2015 she won the Community Involvement Award for her efforts as a candidate during the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Man/Woman of the Year campaign. During the campaign, she raised more than $60,000 for the LLS Augusta Chapter. Barclay is a proud member of the Augusta Rotary Club.
Our Guest Speaker – Jeff Eiseman
There are a lot of positive changes happening in and around the CSRA providing opportunities for the entire community. Our guest speaker this year was one of the leaders working to bring about these changes. We welcomed Jeff Eiseman to our Awards Luncheon as Guest Speaker. Mr. Eiseman is the President and Partner for Agon Sports and Entertainment, which includes the Augusta GreenJackets.
Mr. Eiseman has been in the baseball sports industry for over 20 years and has worked with some of the top names in the industry including Ripken Baseball. Through his strategic direction, Mr. Eiseman has been instrumental in securing and developing the new home for the Augusta GreenJackets, SRP Park, and looking beyond sports to the impact of this development for the entire community, including persons with disabilities.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Thanks to the support of our sponsors, we were able to continue the MVP Community Awards in 2017. Our sponsors this year are Wells Fargo, CSRA Area Agency on Aging and Walton Foundation for Independence. Although the 2017 MVP Community Awards have passed, sponsorship opportunities for the 2018 Awards are available. If you would like more details or to secure your sponsorship for the Awards, please call Ebony at 706-724-6262 or email the MVP Awards Team today.
Want to know more about the MVP Awards?
MVP Community Awards Main Page
2017 MVP Nomination Forms
2016 MVP Awards Celebration Brunch