Reverend Robert Hahn, Pastor of Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown and founder of End Hunger Calvert, has come in second in the latest Compassionate Marylander Awards.
To be eligible for the awards, participants had to submit an essay last year.
Marylanders then selected the ten finalist by voting for their favorite story online with voting ending January 9. A review committee compiled of members from the Governor’s Office and CareFirst will donate $5,000 in each winner’s name to the charity of their choice (a total of $25,000 is available).
Early on, Rev. Hahn led the pack, after a social media blitz, but by the end of the voting period had dropped to second with 22%, 6,138 votes.
Rev. Hahn recognized supporters on his Facebook page with this message: “THANK YOU to everyone who voted and Tweeted and Facebooked and got everyone they knew to vote for End Hunger Calvert. We got second place which keeps us in the running for one of the $5,000 grants. We did this together – harnessed social media to feed the hungry and created community. I cannot list all of you – you know who you are and went above and beyond. Life in Calvert is better because of you.”
Of the more than 27,800 votes cast, the top vote-getter was Rich Blake, a marine combat vet from Baltimore wrote an impassioned letter about “Operation Oliver”, an effort to repopulate the city with families. He received 25%, or 6,966 votes.
Full Article Spread can be viewed by clicking here.