First Christian Church of Mableton was named the recipient of the annual Howard Koepka Collaborative Spirit Award accompanied by an unrestricted grant of $10,000. Accepting the award on behalf of FCCM was Executive Minister Barry Smith.
This award honors the life and collaborative spirit of the late Howard Koepka, a much-loved community organizer known for asking everyone everywhere, “How can we help you?” In his role at Noonday Association of Churches, Koepka was an integral part of the Cobb Community Food Fleet, an initiative of Cobb Community Foundation and Noonday Association in collaboration with 90 nonprofit, for profit, faith-based and government organizations that distributed over 4 million pounds of food during the pandemic.
Nominated by: Lions Club of Cobb County
“The First Christion Church of Mableton is the most active church in South Cobb spearheading many different initiatives including being on the Board of Cobb Collaborative and supporting them with their community Resilience Model & Basics Program … FCCM is helpful to all local civic organizations including MUST Ministries, MIC, HOPE, Lions and Sweetwater Mission by opening up their campus to worthwhile causes. FCCM helps with most local school events, holiday events and KCB litter cleanups.” – Barry Krebs, Lions Club Cobb Zone Chairman
This award was presented alongside the Cobb Collaborative’s presentation of the 2023 Human Services Awards during their 4th Quarter General Membership Meeting.
CONGRATULATIONS to this year’s winners:
- Jack Vaughan, Jr. Human Services Award Winner – Volunteer Category: Barry Krebs, volunteer for South Cobb Lions Club
- Jack Vaughan, Jr. Human Services Award Winner – Professional Category: Laurie Ann Wong, Founder and CEO of Reflections of Trinity
- William Hanson Collaboration Award: Kim Scofi of United Military Care
We appreciate the Cobb Collaborative’s partnership with this luncheon and awards presentation.
