Awards at the ready for Christian Public Servants

A public school administrator, a sheriff’s sergeant and a paramedic will be honored for “living out their faith” at this year’s annual Christian Public Servants awards breakfast on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Each year the organization recognizes area men and women who model the values of Jesus Christ in their elected and appointed positions and through their involvement in nonprofits, civic clubs, churches and other community organizations.

This year’s event will be held at Big Valley Grace Community Church in Modesto.

In addition to the awards presentations, the breakfast will feature as its keynote speaker Stan Risen, Stanislaus County’s chief executive officer.

The winners of this year’s three major awards:

The Walter C. “Bud” LaCore Citizenship Award for outstanding community service: Jorge Perez, Modesto City Schools’ director of student, parent and community support services.

The Chief Gerald McKinsey Excellence in Law Enforcement Award: Matthew Huffman, a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department sergeant.

The 911 Public Safety Award: Arnold “Arnie” Blagg, a paramedic with American Medical Response.

Perez, the citizenship award winner, is a California-born son of immigrants, growing up on the hard side of Salinas, where he worked the fields and ran the streets. Early in life a string of bad choices led to spending time in juvenile detention and earning gang status before he entered high school.

But, thanks to a caring high school teacher who mentored him, Perez’s eyes began to open to a better way of life. He became the first in his family to graduate from high school and then from college, earning a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Stanislaus, and a master’s and pupil personnel credential from the University of La Verne.

Now in his 14th year with Modesto City Schools, Perez serves as liaison between the district and the community, using his personal life experiences, his passion and his education to empower students and parents alike, especially those coming from “hard places” just as he had. Those who know him well describe Perez as “an example of how education and faith in Christ, melded together, can lift a person out of a wasted life.”

Perez, who also serves as a pastor at Apostolic Jubilee Center, credits God with giving him the passion, commitment and strength to press on.

Huffman, the law enforcement award winner, has been with the Sheriff’s Department for 16 years, during which time he has held a number of positions, including his current role as programs sergeant working with jail inmates.

It was an early assignment as the Modesto city roadside deputy that gave Huffman a heart for the homeless. Supervising inmates cleaning up homeless encampments, he saw firsthand the hard and seemingly hopeless conditions of people living on the street. That led him to join a friend in starting an outreach to the homeless, addressing not just their physical needs but spiritual and emotional ones as well.

Huffman also has volunteered with Bob Johnson Ministries in San Francisco’s tough Tenderloin district, and has traveled to Brazil to work in small villages along the Amazon River.

Today Huffman volunteers with the City Reach homeless ministry in Turlock, coaches basketball with Upward Youth Sports, and serves in leadership at his church.

In being nominated for the award, Huffman was described as “strongly believing in leadership and in inspiring others to lead” and for his ability in all that he does to “impart hope, leadership and a desire to walk in a great destiny which he believes we are all part of.”

Blagg, the public safety award winner, is being recognized as “exemplifying the evidence of a Christian public servant day by day” in a number of ways.

“First and foremost,” his nomination says, “(he) exhibits a strong faith in Jesus Christ. After spending a few minutes with Arnie, there’s no need to ask him if he’s a Christian because it’s evidenced by his actions.

On the job, Blagg is known as an outstanding paramedic, with “a very high standard regarding patient care,” who consistently provides “the best patient care and bedside assistance to those in need.”

Blagg, who actively serves at his church in Waterford, is described as having a servant’s heart, and an integrity and character that draws others to him. “As a result,” his nomination states, “his reputation is sound throughout the emergency medical services community as well as in life away from work.”

Risen, the event’s keynote speaker, worked as a youth pastor before shifting to the public sector when he joined the Stanislaus County Assessor’s department in 1987. He moved to the chief executive’s office in 1989, where he served until being appointed to Stanislaus County’s top position in 2013.

As CEO, he is working to lead the county to greater accountability, to focus on core values and to develop programs to tackle the root causes of societal problems rather than simply treating symptoms.

Risen has a strong focus on faith and family, and is an active member of CrossPoint Community Church in Modesto.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Awards at the ready for Christian Public Servants."