CHARLOTTE — A longtime LGBT community volunteer, straight ally and local church will be honored tonight at a special awards ceremony presented by the Charlotte Business Guild, the city’s LGBT business networking and support organization.
The organization’s annual Community Service Awards will be presented to Teresa Davis and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
Davis, an attorney, has been a longtime community volunteer and has worked with the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte, the GayCharlotte Film Festival and Series and the guild, among other organizations.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, located in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood, is an LGBT-affirming faith community that has long championed equality and inclusion efforts.
The group’s straight ally Bridge Builder Award will be presented to Fred Thomas of Charlotte’s chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
The event will also benefit the local charity, A Child’s Place. The ceremony begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. at the McColl Center for Visual Art, 721 N. Tryon St. Admission is $20 and includes appetizer, dinner entree, dessert and tea.
Originally called the Community Service Recognition Award and presented in 1993 by a Charlotte Pride organizing committee, it was later announced the award would be named after its first recipient, Don King, a longtime Charlotte Observer employee, community advocate and former qnotes editor. The Don King Community Service Recognition Award has since been presented by two other organizations: OutCharlotte and the Charlotte Business Guild, the latter since 2004. This year, the Guild’s board voted unanimously to again change the name to the LGBT Community Service Awards.
For more information, visit charlottebusinessguild.org.