The Arc of Massachusetts

28th Annual Distinguished Citizen Awards

Thursday, September 16, 2010

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

The Grand Staircase

State House

Boston, Massachusetts

Celebrate and Advocate 

The Distinguished Citizens Awards Day always presents a great opportunity to walk the building and ask your legislators to support services for people with disabilities and their families. If you're able, please come prepared to visit your elected officials State House offices after the ceremony.

The Distinguished Citizen Awards were created to recognize some of the many individuals and organizations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that make an enormous difference in the lives of those we serve: people of all ages with cognitive and developmental disabilities and their families. Click here for pictures.

Over the years, some recipients of the Distinguished Citizen Awards have been professionals working in the field who have greatly exceeded the requirements of their jobs by creating new opportunities in education, employment, housing and recreation or by providing exceptional care. Others have been volunteers, including many with no direct personal connection to people with disabilities, who have stepped forward to make their communities better places in which all can share fully as citizens of the Commonwealth. Still others have been self-advocates, who have not only experienced remarkable personal growth but have chosen to encourage others to follow their example. We have presented awards to attorneys, legislators, staff members at government agencies, human service providers, teachers, librarians, religious and civic organizations, bankers, artists, and many others.

Distinguished Citizens are women and men -- and teenagers -- from all parts ofMassachusetts. What they have in common is not just their belief that individuals can make a difference but their willingness to follow the principle of Gandhi: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."