DIVERSITY AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
OCALA, Fla. (Oct. 6, 2009) – Winners of the Mary Sue Rich Racial Harmony and Cultural Awareness Award were announced this morning at a prayer breakfast kicking off One Ocala One America Week.

The awards have been presented annually since 2003 to those in the community who have demonstrated an appreciation and respect for racial and cultural differences. This year’s winners are:

Individual Category 
Rev. Jim Bullock, retired minister of Fort King Presbyterian Church
Recently retired from his church ministry, Rev. Bullock continues to demonstrate his compassion for the community through his volunteerism. He serves as the liaison to the Marion County Children’s Alliance, assists underprivileged and racially diverse children and is chaplain at the Juvenile Detention Center. He serves on the Racial Harmony and Cultural Awareness Task Force and works with the interfaith community to offer a Thanksgiving program each year that is open to all faiths.  He assists with various mentoring efforts for different agencies and currently is helping an impoverished community in the Forest build a community center. He also has taken a leadership role in promoting understanding among the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities.

Unsung Heroes
Rose Cohen – Director of Equity Assurance, Marion County Public Schools
Ms. Cohen is friendly, outgoing, energetic and is someone who will go to great lengths to lend a helping hand. She formed a diversity council to celebrate and embrace differences among school staff. Shortly thereafter, she founded the Cultural Diversity newsletter for those interested in promoting awareness of all cultures and supporting diversity in the Marion County School System.  She continues to publish racial awareness messages and articles promoting racial harmony.

As a human resources administrator and community leader, she is credited with having made a significant impact in the Ocala community. Her professional activities include being an officer of the Marion County African American Administrator’s Council and being a committee member of the Golden Apple Teacher Awards selection committee. Her community involvement includes being a member of the Marion County Sheriff’s Advisory Board, the United Way of Marion County and a member of the City of Ocala Racial Harmony and Cultural Awareness Task Force. She also serves as the Sunday School superintendent of her church.

Non-Profit Organizational Category (two recipients)

Marion County Literacy Council
The Literacy Council’s vision is to excel in literacy programs for all adults of diverse cultural backgrounds by providing educational resources for success, self-sufficiency and lifelong learning. Personnel teach students to read and they prepare them for GED exams, citizenship tests, driver’s tests, job applications, voter registration and more. The council is comprised of 75 diverse volunteers trained to teach students on a one-to-one basis, with small-sized English classes. Annual enrollment of students has increased from 66 in 2005 to more than 400 today. Students are native of such countries as Columbia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Korea, Vietnam and China. By raising the literacy skills of its students, the council helps them become more employable and productive members of the community and reduces their dependency on local health and human services.

Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist Church
Serving the community for 112 years, Mt. Canaan has several ministries that are uplifting and encourage its members to be each other’s keepers. The church helps its members and the community by providing seminars and other activities that promote cultural and community awareness as well as spiritual growth. It is a multicultural church and encourages its members to interact with each other through a variety of programs that are open to the community at large. Mt. Canaan also sponsors an annual outing and organizes games to familiarize participants with cultures different from their own. It works with such community-based organizations as the Boys and Girls Club to promote health initiatives and recreational activities. Its outreach services include prison ministries and prayer services at local rehabilitation centers. Members visit prisons and chronically ill patients in nursing homes to foster a caring spirit. Its food drives provide Thanksgiving dinners for needy members of the community. It provides financial aid to victims of natural disaster.

A special recognition also was awarded to a long-time task force member and community leader Barbara Washington.

The breakfast also featured remarks by Bishop Sarah Davis, of the 16th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is only the third woman in the 218-year history of the denomination to ascend to the level of bishop.

Today’s breakfast was presented by the City of Ocala’s Racial Harmony and Cultural Awareness Task Force, which is comprised of a group of volunteers from various racial and cultural backgrounds. It is chaired by City Councilwoman Mary S. Rich.

The week’s other activities this week include:

- A musical celebration, 7 p.m., Wednesday at West Port High School, 3733 SW 80th Ave.
- Kids Involved in Social Diversity, 6 p.m., Thursday at the E.D. Croskey Center, 1510 NW 4th St. in Martin Luther King Recreational Complex
- Downtown Cultural Festival, 1-8 p.m., Saturday at the Downtown Square

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For more information contact: Sonny Allen, Information & Publications Coordinator
 City of Ocala, 352-629-8401, e-mail: sallen@ocalafl.org