Larry Ogden, President of the Hatteras Island Community Emergency Response Team (HI-CERT), was awarded the Governor of North Carolina’s prestigious Medallion Award for Volunteer Service. Ogden was honored for the award – North Carolina’s highest voluntary award – during the 2021 Governor’s Medallion Award ceremony held in Raleigh on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 6:00 p.m.
Ogden was nominated by Drew Pearson, Emergency Management Director of Dare County. He submitted a video nomination highlighting Ogden’s unwavering commitment to HI-CERT and the way his leadership enabled the organization to respond quickly and effectively to support and provide recovery and relief efforts to the Hatteras community Iceland after Hurricane Dorian hit the Outer Banks in September 2019.
“Larry’s skill and relentless dedication to his community is evident every day in the success of the Hatteras Island Community Emergency Response team,” Pearson said in his nomination video. “Under Larry’s unwavering leadership as the only CERT President of Hatteras Island, the team of more than 40 volunteers are fully trained and equipped to help their neighbors before, during, and after any emergency. Larry’s selection as a medallion winner is well deserved. “
In addition to Pearson, Ogden was nominated by Samantha Royster, program manager for North Carolina Emergency Management’s North Carolina Community Emergency Response Team.
On her written nomination form, Royster stated, “In 2019, Larry Ogden and HI-CERT’s true community spirit really helped. Hurricane Dorian hit the coast in September and HI-CERT put it back into gear. They have invested over 4,000 volunteer hours helping the residents of Hatteras Island with damage assessment and cleanup operations. HI-CERT has shown an exemplary response to every storm that has hit our coast. I believe that HI-CERT would not have achieved a [fraction] of the wonderful things they did without Larry Ogden’s guidance. I am equally confident that after learning from the best, they will move on. “
The North Carolina Governor’s Medallion Award for Volunteer Service was introduced in 2006 and is awarded in conjunction with the North Carolina Governor’s Volunteer Service Awards, which recognize the spirit of volunteer service by recognizing individuals, groups, and companies who volunteer to make significant contributions to the their community serve.
The prestigious Governor’s Medallion Award is designed to recognize the best 20-25 of these volunteers across the state. Medallion Award recipients are nominated at the county level by each county’s designated award coordinator. Only one Medallion Award nomination is allowed per county.
Of the eight nominations in Dare County, the award coordinator was allowed to submit one nominee for the Governor’s Medallion Award from this group. The Governor’s Medallion Award nominations are reviewed and evaluated by a statewide panel that determines the award winners. In 2021, this panel selected Ogden as the winner of the Governor’s Medallion Award. Ogden is one of only 22 Governor’s Medallion Award winners recognized in the state of North Carolina.
The winners of the 2021 Governor’s Volunteer Service Awards in Dare County will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information on the Governor of North Carolina Medallion Award and Governor Volunteer Service Awards, please visit here.
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