Khadija Yawn Honored for Distinguished Community Service

Written by Jasmine

On Thursday, October 10th, the WDKX family had the pleasure of attending Action for a Better Community’s 16th Annual Signature Luncheon, held at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Here, our very own Khadija Yawn (aka KD) was honored for her continued service to the Rochester community.

The event featured several notable speakers such as Monroe County Executive Cheryl Donolfo, City of Rochester Mayor Lovely A. Warren, CEO and President of ESL Federal Credit Union, Faheem Masood and, of course, CEO and President of Action for a Better Community, Jerome Underwood. News10NBC anchor Deanna Dewberry was the mistress of ceremonies and the new President of the University of Rochester, Sarah C. Mangelsdorf, was featured as the keynote speaker. 

When it came time to present the awards, Khadija was recognized for her distinguished community service for the last decade with the Lena M. Gantt Distinguished Community Service Award. This award has been presented every year since 1984 to honor those with a record of dedicated community service which best reflects the life work of Lena M. Gantt, a devoted community advocate. Khadija thanked God, ABC, her team, her community and her brother and mother in heaven, whom she refers to as her angels.

Several others were honored for their contributions to the success of ABC and/or to the Rochester community. These honorees include: Wilka Martinez, who received the Elliott Landsman Head Start Community Volunteer Award, Barbara Maryniak was honored with the Signature Citizen of the Year Award, and the James M. McCuller Award for Excellence was presented to Bishop David J. Singleton.

Congratulations to all the ABC award recipients, and a BIG, big shoutout to our girl, KD!! Keep up the good work! ??

To learn more about Action for a Better Community and their work, visit abcinfo.org.