We had a tremendous time at FIRM’s Fall Banquet, “Countless Miracles” on October 21 at Fresno First Baptist Church! Just in case you missed it, we had a great evening of cultural food, cultural entertainment and even had the honor of Gia Vang (KMPH 26 News Anchor) serve as our Master of Ceremonies. Each year, at our Fall Banquet, we give one award to someone in the community that is reminiscent of our founder, the Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley. Those of you who served with Sharon know that she was dedicated, passionate, faithful and tireless in her service of the refugee community in Fresno. This year’s recipient vote was a unanimous decision that came quickly to FIRM’s staff. We want the community to know that we were honored to give Linda Bowman the Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley award this year. Linda serves FIRM as the Finance Manager (and has done so for years), but she does so much more than that. Linda served countless hours during the Summerset crisis last year, often works evenings and weekends serving the needs of the organization, does far more than what is on her job description and has a deep passion for the mission of “Sharing Christ’s love to build communities of hope with New Americans.” She was definitely surprised when we called her name from the stage and we are richly blessed that you are part of the FIRM family! Linda joins the Rev. Tom Sims (2014) and University Presbyterian Church (2015) as the only three recipients of the annual award.