Pastor, activist honored at GRCC awards ceremony

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A pastor and community activist who works with adult and young men is this year’s GIANT Among Giants.

The Rev. Jerry Bishop received the honor Saturday evening during the GIANT awards ceremony and banquet, hosted by Grand Rapids Community College.

Bishop founded LifeQuest Urban Outreach, a ministry that works with more than 1,000 men each month, in 1998, according to a Saturday release from GRCC. The college says the ministry’s headquarters functions as a gathering place for multiple congregations of different faiths, a small business incubator and the new site of the Gerald Dawkins Academy.

Bishop has also served on Kent County’s COVID-19 church task force and organized a community prayer event in response to gun violence, according to GRCC.

“There isn’t a place that Pastor Bishop is afraid to go to spread the Gospel,” Tempy Mann, chair of the 2024 GIANT Awards, said in a statement. “His compassion toward often-overlooked segments of our community is inspiring. He has made a difference in countless lives.”

This is the 41st year of the GIANT Awards, which date back to 1983. The awards celebrate members of the African American community who shape the culture and quality of life in Grand Rapids.

Eleven other awards were given Saturday, according to GRCC:

• The Raymond Tardy Community Service Award: Valissa Armstead, senior director of diversity and inclusion at Corewell Health

• The Milo Brown Business Award: Debra Bates, owner and administrator for Choice Business Systems Inc. and owner of MeMe’s Foundation Boutique

• The Ethel Coe Humanities Award: George Bayard III, artist, owner of Bayard Gallery of Fine African American Art and Books and executive director of the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives

• The Eugene Browning Medical Service Award: Tasha Blackmon, president and CEO of Cherry Health

• The Walter Coe Public Service Award: Jimmy Carter, former head coach for East Kentwood High School’s girls basketball team

• The Phyllis Scott Activist Award: Jamie Gordon, executive director of human resources for Kentwood Public Schools

• The William Glenn Trailblazer Award: Kristian Grant, the first African American woman to represent Grand Rapids in the Michigan House of Representatives

• The H.C. Toliver Religious Life Award: The Rev. Charles Hudson III, CEO and president of C.H. Hudson Outreach Ministries

• The Floyd Skinner Justice Award: Latesha Lipscomb, JD, director of engagement and relationships for Amplify GR

• The Hattie Beverly Education Award: Inez Smith, retired teacher

• The W.W. Plummer Humanitarian Award: Bobby Springer, director of GEAR UP at Grand Valley State University

Proceeds from Saturday’s awards ceremony go toward the Milo M. Brown Memorial and the Junior GIANT scholarships, according to GRCC.

This year, two GRCC nursing students, Kyle Greer and McKenzye Sterk, received Milo M. Brown Memorial scholarships. Grand Rapids Christian High School student Caebre Baty and Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy student Nas Brooks received Cedric Ward Leadership scholarships, and the Dr. Patricia Pulliam College Leadership Scholarship went to Western Michigan University architecture student Rallah Cobbins.

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