The Rev. Dr. David Cleaver-Bartholomew, Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations, has been named as the April recipient for the newly inaugurated Dawn Hammond Staff Appreciation Award. 

The award, which recognizes a Southern New England staff member who has gone above and beyond in their responsibilities, was established last month in honor of Hammond, who is planning to retire after more than 34 years working for the Conference. Hammond herself was named the first recipient in March.

"I am blessed as head of staff to serve alongside some of the most amazing folks in ministry. It is also true of ministry-related and helping profession roles that we often miss the mark on celebrating, appreciating and naming the wonderful work we contribute to the world," Executive Conference Minister the Rev. Darrell Goodwin said, in announcing the establishment of the award. 
 
"Toward that end, I am announcing the establishment of the Dawn Hammond Staff Appreciation Award," he said. "Her service has been marked by a tireless effort to help our historic vision in the Massachusetts Conference, and now the current vision of the SNEUCC, of making the love and justice of Jesus a reality. Dawn embodies our mission tenants and invests at a level that I think is worthy and therefore this award will be named after her in perpetuity, and she will be the first recipient."
 
Conference staff are invited each month to nominate a staff member who they think deserves recognition, or who has gone above and beyond in their responsibilities. Awardees will be invited to join together at a celebratory dinner annually. 

One of the staff colleagues who nominated Rev. Cleaver-Bartholomew said the following: “David came in at the transition to the SNEUCC and shortly before Covid arrived and closed the office. Under these tough circumstances, he has never failed to be a role model of positivity and encouragement for others. He serves our congregations with grace and has from the start - from his first blog post encouraging us to live grounded in faith and abundance rather than scarcity while we coped with the then new pandemic. His regular blogs and informative webinars helped guide our churches through this very difficult time. David's kind emails never failed to lift my spirits on some dark days. David is a deserving person for this award, committed to justice and living out his love of Jesus.”