Paul Glass and Charles D. Evans of Falmouth honored with 2023 Andrus Award

Paul Glass and Charles D. Evans have been awarded the 2023 AARP Massachusetts Andrus Award for Community Service, the Association’s most prestigious and visible state volunteer award for community service.

AARP Massachusetts selected Paul Glass and Charles D. Evans for their remarkable service, which has benefited the community, reflected AARP’s vision and mission, and inspired other volunteers.

For decades, Paul Glass and Charles D. Evans, a married couple in their 70s, have embodied the AARP’s purpose to enhance the quality of life for all as we age. As volunteers and advocates for multiple organizations, including two they co-founded, they have championed positive social change and delivered value through advocacy, information, and service. One organization Paul and Charles helped found is LGBTQ+ Elders of Color. The organization raises awareness and visibility for LGBTQ+ older adults of color. Their volunteer work - with food pantries, Cape Cod Pride, HIV+ advocacy, and much more -has significantly helped advance the opportunities for Massachusetts’ older residents, especially LGBTQ+ people of color, to live in a society in which all people live with dignity and purpose and fulfill their goals and dreams.

The award was presented to Paul Glass and Charles D. Evans at a ceremony November 12th.

"The notion of giving back to community was ingrained in both of us since childhood. It was part of our family values. We literally stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. By standing on the shoulders of their greatness, we, too, can manifest our own greatness in ways both big and small." Paul Glass said at the ceremony. "As a matter of fact, it mandates that we do so! They are presently the silent heroes and she-roes who walk in our midst giving us the strength and courage to carry on. Charles and I proudly stand in that lineage and on those shoulders."
Read Paul Glass's Speech here.

“This award acts as a symbol to the public that we can all work together for positive social change,” says Mike Festa, State Director, AARP Massachusetts. “AARP has long valued the spirit of volunteerism and the important contributions volunteers make to their communities, neighbors, and the programs they serve.”

"Paul and Charles have channeled the many negative experiences they endured into positive, healing, and inspiring volunteer work and leadership. Their signature work co-founding LGBTQ+ Elders of Color in 2013 in Massachusetts was innovative, unusual, and courageous. No such organization existed at that time. In collaboration with the LGBTQ+ Aging Project, they identified the need and turned the need into a reality. They didn’t just co-found the organization along with others, their continued leadership inspires many others to be involved." -Barrie Atkin of Swampscott, Nominator.

"To some, retirement may mean the opportunity to relax and take it easy. To us, retirement has provided an opportunity to find new ways to help others
Recipients across the nation were chosen for their ability to enhance the lives of AARP members and prospective members, improve the community in or for which the work was performed, and inspire others to volunteer." - Paul Glass