Distinguished Service Award to Burgundy Crescent Volunteers

Presented by former GLAA President Craig Howell

GLAA 41st Anniversary Reception
Washington Plaza Hotel
Thursday, April 26, 2012

Founded in 2001 as a source of volunteers for local and national gay and gay-friendly non-profit organizations in the DMV (District/Maryland/Virginia), Burgundy Crescent Volunteers (BCV) provides numerous opportunities for LGBT people to socialize while serving our broader community.

Inspired by a now-defunct group called Gay, Lesbian, and Other Volunteer Singles, the co-founders of Burgundy Crescent Volunteers, Jonathan Blumenthal and his husband Eric Cohen, made their new group more inclusive by welcoming couples as well as singles.

BCV, itself a tax-exempt non-profit, currently has over 5,000 members who have donated over 100,000 volunteer hours to the community. Their good efforts have ranged from doing yard work for Frank Kameny, to pruning the cherry trees at the Tidal Basin, to wrangling giant balloons for the National Cherry Blossom Parade, and to staffing the welcome table at GLAA's anniversary receptions.

This coming weekend, just to give you a further appreciation of the wide-ranging scope of their contributions, BCV members will be helping out at Food & Friends, the Rainbow Families Conference, and the Casey Trees Community Tree Planting Program.

It is my privilege to present GLAA's 2012 Distinguished Service Award to Burgundy Crescent Volunteers. Jonathan and Eric are both here tonight to accept the DSA.