Leon and Mary Ellen Judd

Volunteer of the Year Award:  This award is reserved for an individual who strives to improve the lives of neighbors, friends, community, or congregation.  Individuals nominated for this award could be adults, national service members, educators, and more.

"Leon Judd of Northville became a volunteer with the Oakwood Healthcare System in 1987 when he was vice president of human resources at National Steel Corporation. Because the majority of his National Steel coworkers lived in the Oakwood service community, Leon felt compelled to get involved in optimizing the health system servicing those people.  After a child of Leon’s was stricken with mental illness, he became involved with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in 1995. In this capacity, Leon has been involved with NAMI Michigan, AMI Oakland and is currently president of the NAMI Metro affiliate serving Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. He has been active in family-oriented education and support for mental illness.  For the last 20 years Leon has also co chaired the Downriver Community prayer breakfast.  These are just a few of the ways Leon has devoted over 3,600 hours of his time to healthcare efforts."  Excerpts from: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mcsc/2008_GSA_Finalists_236073_7.pdf