Charlotte, NC — On August 19, the Charlotte Business Guild presented the 2008 Charlotte Business Guild Don King Community Service Awards to Frank Kalian, Kelley Doherty, Rev. Debbie Warren, Rev Stephen Shoemaker, Rabbi Judy Schindler, and Tyvola Design.

Since 1993, the Charlotte Business Guild (CBG) has given awards, annually, for service to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community of Charlotte.  The Don King Community Service Award is named for a long-time employee of the Charlotte Observer and gay community leader.  Don King was the original recipient of the CBG’s award in 1993. The award is to acknowledge kind of the service and commitment to community and individual visibility that Don King has consistently shown. The award has grown over the years from recognizing an individual honoree to recognizing a man, a woman, a business, and, beginning this year, a straight ally as a “Bridge Builder.”

CBG was formed in 1992 by a group of gay men and lesbians as a networking group for meeting other like-minded professionals in the business community of Charlotte.  Over the years the guild has grown and become an organization of people from nearly every profession, career and walk of life.

This year’s winners, Kalian, Doherty, Warren, Shoemaker, Schindler and representatives from Tyvola Designs, received their awards on Tuesday, August 19 at VanLandingham Estate in Plaza-Midwood. One of the highlights of the CBG calendar is this annual event featuring wine tasting and the official recognition of the Charlotte Business Guild Don King Community Service Awards.

Frank Kalian was an early gay leader in Charlotte. In the early 1990s, he helped start and run First Tuesday, an organization that advocated basic civil rights for LGBT citizens. From 1991-2001 and 2003-2005, Kalian was a board member for Metropolitan Community Church.  Kalian also served on the board of Carolina Celebration, an annual event that raised money for HIV/AIDS prevention and patient care. He is currently a board member for the Lesbian & Gay Community Center and Primetimers of Charlotte, which is a social organization for gay men over the age of 50.

Kelley Doherty is the current chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Equity Committee.  Last year she helped lead efforts successfully advocating the Mecklenburg County Board of Education to pass a comprehensive anti-bullying policy including LGBT students as a protected group. Doherty was also part of the virtual leadership team that established the Lesbian and Gay Community Center and was a board member of One Voice Chorus in 1997. She also served on the board of the Charlotte Business Guild, including one year as vice president and three as president.

Reverend Debbie Warren founded the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN) in 1992 to unite the resources of the faith community in addressing the growing needs of people infected with HIV/AIDS and their loved ones. Over the years, she has worked to educate people, particularly in the faith community, and introduce them to people infected with HIV/AIDS in an effort to break down the stigma of those affected by this disease. Today the organization has served more than 700 families; logged more than 150,000 hours of direct service provided by the current RAIN staff; trained more than 3,000 volunteers from 20 denominations who have "adopted" one or more HIV positive individuals; and provided more than 1,600 programs reaching more than 50,000 people. Warren is currently the President/CEO of RAIN.

Tyvola Design, a full-service graphic design firm owned by Tom Feldman, has assisted numerous LGBT and straight ally community projects in Charlotte area since relocating to Charlotte in 1997.  Feldman and his business have given selflessly of both time and services to support local initiatives as well as national projects in support of individuals and non-profit organizations, including RAIN, the Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund of the Foundation for the Carolinas, Gay BINGO, Equality North Carolina, Mecklenburg County Gay and Lesbian Political Action Committee (MeckPAC), Human Rights Campaign, HRC Carolinas Gala Dinner, Time Out Youth, CBG, Campus Pride, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Rabbi Judy Schindler and Dr. Stephen Shoemaker are the first recipients of the new Bridge Builder award recognizing straight allies of Charlotte’s LGBT community. Schindler has been an important leader in Charlotte's faith community for ten years. She came to Temple Beth El as an Associate Rabbi in the summer of 1998 and was named Senior Rabbi five years later. In addition to her responsibilities with her family and the Jewish community, she has also worked hard for change in Charlotte, including speaking out for LGBT rights. Shoemaker is the Senior Minister at Myers Park Baptist Church.  He took a stand for tolerance by standing up to the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, which "expelled" Myers Park Baptist Church from its membership because it welcomes gays and lesbians into its congregation. Schindler and Shoemaker both endorsed Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ new anti-bulling policy.

In a press release, 2008 CBG President Bert Woodard said of the award recipients, "We are very proud to honor these outstanding individuals who have done so much to improve the quality life of not just the Charlotte LGBT community but for the entire community, and to further fairness and tolerance for everyone."

The Charlotte Business Guild holds monthly dinner meetings and socials for its members and has provided a platform for a variety of speakers including Greg Luganis, Candace Gingrich, David Mixner, Elizabeth Birch and others to share their experience and expertise.  The CBG has supported and donated time and money to many organizations in the Charlotte community including the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, One Voice Chorus, Time Out Youth, RAIN, and others. For more information about the Charlotte Business Guild, please visit www.charlottebusinessguild.com.