Boca Raton – “When you get an award with the president’s signature on it, that says a lot about you,” Dr. Beverly Kee told the 2024 recipients of the President’s Lifetime Achievement Awards. The biographies of the women and men honored for their decades of contributions to the betterment of their communities, said the executive director of the certifying organization for the volunteer service award program, were “some of the most phenomenal stories I have ever read.” Among the dozens of distinguished recipients (full list below), during Saturday’s ceremonies at the Church of All Nations in Boca Raton, were Beatrice McCoy of West Palm Beach, below, at age 102, accompanied by Kee, herself a 2018 and 2021 honoree. Also, beloved longtime educator Betty Wells, bottom left; and dedicated Palm Beach School Board member Marcia Andrews, bottom right, her ribbon being bestowed by the Hon. Judge Bradley Harper of the 15th Judicial Circuit Court. Others honored included eminent Martin Luther King, Jr. Coordinating Committee Executive Director Dr. Edith Bush, and esteemed Inlet Grove High School founder and CEO Dr. Emma Banks. Alexia Cox, Esq., deputy chief assistant for the county State Attorney’s Office, who won Tuesday’s Democratic Primary election for the top job, presided. The prestigious ceremony, before a packed audience of past and perhaps future award winners, family and friends, also included performances by the famed Ebony Chorale of the Palm Beaches. More on Page 4B.