Auspicious Ceremony: Retired Lt. Beverly Morrison (top left), chair of the South Florida Host Team and a 2023 award recipient herself, proudly wears her presidential pin while Inlet Grove High School founder and CEO Dr. Emma Banks (right) accepts her presidential award from Dr. Beverly Kee and State Rep. Jervonte Edmonds. Below, Alexia Cox, Esq., chief deputy assistant county attorney who won the Democratic primary for the top job on Tuesday, presided over the event. Below, Dr. Edith Bush, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Coordinating Committee, was also one of the deserving public servants honored during Saturday’s ceremony at the Church of All Nations in Boca Raton.

Boca Raton – At the age of 102, Beatrice McCoy of West Palm Beach stood with her head held high as she accepted her gold medal during the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony at the Church of All Nations in Boca Raton on Saturday.

McCoy and more than 40 others from across the state received the prestigious award for their decades of service and dedication to the oppressed.

Each of the award winners also received a letter from President Joe Biden, under whose patronage the award was presented.

Civil rights icon Edith Bush, executive director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Coordinating Committee of West Palm Beach, said she cried in the middle of the night after receiving the award on Saturday.

Joseph Lundy of Tampa, who was honored for his male mentoring group, said the ceremony was phenomenal and moving.

Miami-based Trenae Floyd, a national public relations entrepreneur, said she and the other honorees inspired each other and she was honored to accept the award and dedicate it to her family, who have supported her.

Dr. Beverly Kee, older sister of gospel star John P. Kee, is presenting the awards across the country on behalf of the Biden administration as executive director of Premiere Coalition Partners Association, LLC, the certifying organization for the Volunteer Awards Program.

Kee said she did not need to take notes when presenting the awards as she spoke from the heart and knew details about the award winners from around the world by heart.

“She is an incredible leader and has made us all feel very special,” said honoree Corey Rolle, president and CEO of the Mary Taylor Rolle Toney Foundation for Single Mothers. “She is hardworking, has unmatched dedication and immeasurable integrity,” Rolle said. “She deserves tremendous praise.”

Kee surprised the Honorable Judge Bradley Harper of the 15th District Court by presenting him with a medal after his scheduled greeting to the audience.

The ceremony also included welcoming remarks by moderator Alexia Cox, Esq., chief deputy assistant attorney for the Palm Beach County District Attorney’s Office, who won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the top job vacated by Dave Aronberg; an invocation by the Rev. Kevin Jones; greetings by the Rev. Mark D. Boykin; music by the renowned Ebony Chorale of the Palm Beaches; and remarks by State Rep. Jervonte Edmonds, Palm Beach County Executive the Honorable Verdenia Baker, and community activist Dr. Stan M. Levin.

Beverly Elliott Morrison, retired lieutenant and Kees’ regional contact for the awards, praised Kees’ leadership as well as the award winners, saying they are a beacon of light.