Awards await ther winners on Tuesday evening. (Victor Texcucano/Staff)

Brookshire’s Grocery Company and the Andrews Center hosted a Beach Party Bash and awards presentation on Tuesday at Harvey Convention Center.

The Andrews Center honored developmentally and intellectually disabled individuals for their accomplishments during the past year.

“People with intellectual and developmental disabilities often get pushed to the margins of society, and we kind of try to hide them and pretend they aren’t there,” Martha Kerns, consumer advocate for the Andrews Center, said. “They really are valuable and contributing members of society and they deserve to be honored.”

Each of the honorees showed bravery, courage or determination in the face of difficult situations.

Brett Mathis was honored for showing perseverance after losing his mother and having to pick up the pieces with little outside help.

The year’s youngest recipient was Blaiz Doolin, 5, who has been working on speech and communication with the Andrews Center and will soon start school. Blaiz received awards for Significant Personal Achievement and the Heaton Eye Associates Achievement Award.

The night’s biggest award, Brookshire’s “Consumer of the Year,” went to Robert Champion, who also won the “Act of Courage” award.

“He lived in a home with other consumers where a really uncomfortable situation came up, and he felt like he really needed to say something, but he was so nervous,” Kerns said. “He overcame those fears and he spoke out and things were completely fixed because he worked up the courage to say something.”

Other winners included:

Community Service – Brian Insalaco, Jennifer Wallace

Congeniality – Rodriguez Kellum, Brooke Alfred

Friendship – Thony Miller, Linda Jones

Helping Hand – Jon Danna, Crystal Martin

Independent Living – Terry Birdow, Lee Myatt

Personal Growth – Ben Zimmerman, Erin Schroeder

Significant Personal Accomplishment – Cherie Brown

Special Talent – Matthew Cox, Pam Benefield

Star Student – Anthony Larocca, Linda Goodwin

Work Ethic – Antel Johnson, Sharon Farnum

Work Excellence – Andrew Segura, Wendy Kennedy

Yes I can – Cody Ingram, Michelle Kelly

Knight Janitorial Achievement Award – Brett Mathis

Varnadore Achievement Award – Jon Danna

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