I love helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities make progress toward achieving full community life.”Joseph V. Murray, Sr., Past President, The Arc of Howard County
It was no surprise when Joseph V. Murray, Sr. won The Arc of Maryland’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2011. Over his many years of public service, Murray has received numerous awards. County Executive Ken Ulman named him Humanitarian of the Year in 2008. And he’s served two terms on the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.
The Community Relations Director for Ascend One Corp. served on The Arc of Howard County’s Board of Directors and is a past president. He has also been active on the Monitoring and Advisory, Governmental Affairs and Education, Youth Issues, and Strategic Planning Committees.
Never one to underestimate the value of volunteerism, Murray encourages others to help out. “These difficult times make the contributions of volunteers more important than ever before,” he says. But as he sees it, there are rewards for the volunteers, too.
“The Arc has been a blessing to me because through its diverse services, it has afforded me many opportunities to answer what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described as ‘Life’s most urgent and persistent question…what are you doing for others,’ ” he says. “I love helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities make progress toward achieving full community life.”
