5 Jefferson Award winners honored

Each of the five saw a need and took action, expecting no thanks or applause.

But Thursday, each of them received heartfelt thanks, standing ovations and bronze medallions as they were named Washington State Jefferson Award winners for their community service.

		Karen Ducey / P-I
	From left, award recipients Grover Haynes, Rita Selin, Cheryl Honey, Mark Boyar and Harriet Morton gather at the Westin Hotel luncheon Thursday. One will represent the state in Washington, D.C., in June.

Honored were Mark Boyar, who spearheaded an effort to save the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River; longtime Rainier Valley community leader Grover Haynes; Cheryl Honey, founder of a family support system; Harriet Morton, founder of the Invest in Youth tutoring program; and social-justice advocate Rita Selin.

"The Jefferson Awards are all about good people who do good things for the good of the communities in which we live and who make a difference on this increasingly small planet on which we all reside," Ken Bunting, associate publisher of the Seattle P-I, told those gathered for a CityClub lunch at the Westin Hotel.

The P-I, in its 31st year of sponsoring the prestigious public service awards, was joined this year by corporate sponsor Microsoft Corp.

"We in media often hear from readers and viewers that they wish we could give them more good news," Bunting said. "The Jefferson Awards address that yearning."

The five were selected from an impressive list of nearly 100 people nominated by P-I readers. One of the five will represent the state at a national Jefferson Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in June.

Boyar, 50, has worked for 20 years to bring government agencies and citizens together to save the Middle Fork Valley, a recreational gem once threatened by pollution, garbage dumping, gun users' "target practice" and four-wheelers ripping up the riverbanks.

Honey, 51, was a single mom with four children when she first applied for public assistance 15 years ago.

She addressed the shortcomings of a system that could not adequately help her by founding the Family Support Network International and Community Weaving, a coalition of people who start networks in communities around the world. "We all have something we can give for the betterment of humanity," Honey told the crowd.

For nearly five decades, Haynes, 76, has been one of southeast Seattle's most recognized and respected citizens. He helped organize efforts to fight crime and drugs, and continues to sit on the Southeast Seattle Crime Prevention Council.

Morton, 58, noticed a gap in public education in 1977 -- and decided to help fill it by mobilizing a tutoring program that has expanded and grown to more than 90 volunteers.

And Selin, 69, has spent decades working issues ranging from racial discrimination and homelessness to education, hunger and mental illness. Selin, a member of the Raging Grannies, sang a song that urged those gathered to "look around you ... for the sake of the world and your grandchildren."