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Farmington couple receives Salt & Light Award from ecumenical ministry

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Left to right is Dick Giard, Irene Berry, Susan Crane and A. William Berry Jr.

FARMINGTON – A local couple received the 2018 Salt & Light Award from the Farmington Area Ecumenical Ministry Thursday, celebrating their partnership with the ministry to benefit the community.

FAEM, a group of local churches that partners on projects to help local-area residents, presents the Salt & Light Award each year to a person or persons that is active within the community. The name of the award refers to Matthew 5:13 and 5:14 in the Bible: “You are the salt of the earth … you are the light of the world …”

Irene and A. William Berry Jr. received this year’s award, with FAEM Moderator Dick Giard presenting them with a plaque. Susan Crane, the coordinator for ECU HEAT, the ministry’s heating fund, said she was pleased to present the Berrys with the award.

“We are very glad to have Bill and Irene here today,” she said. “In their quiet, humble way, they’ve done so very much for out community.”

Irene Berry was recognized for organizing the Easter Sunrise Service since 1977. Participants attend the service every year on Voter Hill.

Bill Berry was recognized for the annual contributions from the Sandy River Charitable Foundation to the Franklin County Ecumenical Heating Fund. ECU HEAT provides deliveries of fuel to households in need throughout the heating season. It is paid for, in part, through an annual fundraiser – previously the HEAT Dance and now a holiday concert. Every year, the SRCF provides a $5,000 matching grant.

The grant helps being people together around a common goal, ECU HEAT Coordinator Susan Crane said. “The community has to earn it,” she said. “People say ‘we can do this. We can raise the money.'”

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7 Comments

  1. I am glad to see your contributions honored! Thank you for what you have given to the community.

  2. It’s such a pleasure to see you two honored for your solid work in this community. We are all enriched by what you have done over the years, but most of all by your presence among us!

  3. You have certainly earned the reward. Thank you for all you have done.

  4. Congratulations, Bill & Irene, a wonderful honor that is very well deserved! Your care, efforts and action throughout the years has been admirable and appreciated. Best Wishes to you both.

  5. Congrats to the Berry Family and thank you for all that you do for our community.

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