The Sertoma Club of Broad Ripple awards the Service to Mankind Award to an individual or group that has provided outstanding service to those in need in our community. This year's winner is Reverend Charles R. Harrison, Pastor of Barnes United Methodist Church and founder and head of The Ten Point Coalition of Indianapolis. The award was presented to the Coalition for their success in fighting crime in "so many" Indianapolis neighborhoods this past year.

The Reverend Harrison lives and works in Indianapolis -- a city in which the black population represents twenty-seven percent of the population but accounts for the majority of the reported crime.

He organized a group of friends into what became The Ten Point Coalition of Indianapolis. Today, The Ten Point Coalition of Indianapolis conducts faith walks and faith patrols. Participants wear bright yellow vests as they walk or ride in neighborhoods where there are boarded-up houses and stores and few if any streetlights -- neighborhoods the police are reluctant to visit. On their faith walks and faith patrols, which take place at least five days a week, members of the coalition talk to the people of the neighborhoods and often offer curbside counseling. Their presence fosters an aura of caring and serves as a great deterrent to crime. They provide street-level intelligence to law enforcement and watch over potential hot spots. Reverend Harrison and his colleagues make a special effort to reach and positively influence high risk young people, particularly those between fourteen and twenty years of age, to improve their chances of leading meaningful, productive lives.

Harrison is currently the president of the board of directors of The Ten Point Coalition and the chaplain for the Indiana State Police. He is a member of numerous ministerial boards of directors and he has received many prestigious awards including Sagamore of the Wabash and the Distinguished Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award. We have just recently learned that Reverend Harrison will soon go to Washington, D.C., together with his nominator, Special Agent in Charge, Jay Abbott, to be awarded the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award.

Reverend Harrison has been serving his parish, his neighbors and the citizens of Indianapolis by dedicating his life to the church and its teachings. He has worked tirelessly to guide and protect the residents of our city's most at-risk neighborhoods.

Reverend Harrison accepted the award on behalf of the partners "who do the hard work" as he put it -- the pastors, the churches, IMPD, Sheriff's Department, FBI, Ten Point Coalition, and businesses that hire felons and stay on top of them every day. "It's all of them working together to try to improve the quality of life in the high risk areas of our city."

High-risk areas were identified as Butler/Tarkington, Crown Hill, and United Northwest, with the latter now posing the greatest challenge. Reverend Harrison expressed proudness for the number of days Butler/Tarkington and Crown Hill had gone without a homicide. In each of these areas, he commented that most of the neighborhoods in the areas are normal, but there are a few places in each which cause the big problems for all.

Notable guests in attendance were Fawn Porter Harrison, wife of Reverend Harrison; Fanchon Stinger, FOX59 News; Reverend Rob Fuquay, Pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church; Jay Abbott, Special Agent-in-Charge, Indianapolis FBI.

Following Reverend Harrison's remarks, Mr. Abbott directed his comments towards Broad Ripple Sertoma, thanking them for what they do and for reaching out and selecting Reverend Harrison as the Sertoman of the Year.

Ms. Stinger emphasized that all of us need to reach out to the younger generation and give them hope, just as Reverend Harrison is doing.