Posted: 12/22/2004
The School of Nursing’s John Shearin and alumna Jennette Logan have been named recipients of the Johns Hopkins 2004 Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Community Service. Shearin, an East Baltimore resident and Hopkins employee for ten years, is a Support Service Technician in the office of Finance and Administration at the School of Nursing. Logan, who graduated from the School of Nursing in 1993, is a research nurse in pediatric immunology at the School of Medicine.
When he is not at the SON, Shearin usually can be found in his community or at his church. He spends countless hours mentoring teenage boys, acting as a positive male role model to many who wouldn’t otherwise have one and making a lasting difference in their lives. Shearin also coaches youth sports teams at Dunbar High School and the Oliver Recreation Center, using the young men’s passion for sports to create teaching moments and opportunities for them to learn and grow. At the Mount Pleasant Church of Ministries, where he is a preacher, youth Sunday School teacher, and head of the evangelical ministry, Shearin works tirelessly to provide not just gospel, but also much needed food and clothing to low-income communities throughout Maryland.
When asked why mentoring youth is so important to him, Shearin recounts his own rocky youth, when a mentor entered his life, guided him, and helped him turn around his life. Shearin is now committed to providing the same mentoring, guidance and inspiration to young men who may be headed down the wrong path. He says people always told him they saw something different in him. In turn, Shearin works very hard to see that potential in all others.
Logan uses her professional experience as a nurse to educate families in impoverished neighborhoods throughout Baltimore City about the seriousness of asthma and what changes family members can make in their homes to combat this deadly disease. Each year she coordinates Thanksgiving baskets, as well as blanket, coat, and school supply drives for those in need. Sometimes digging deep into her own pockets, Logan also conducts toy drives for the less fortunate and for those children whose parents are incarcerated.
Logan is founder of Sister Talk and of Spiritual Sister Sircle, women’s groups meant to encourage prayer and fellowship for all women.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Community Service is presented annually by the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital to distinguish faculty, staff, graduate students, and retirees who demonstrate the same spirit of volunteerism and citizenship that characterized the life of Dr. King. Throughout his life, Dr. King had a deep faith in what people working together could accomplish for themselves and for their nation.
The award is presented at the MLK Jr. Commemoration Celebration in January. The celebration has included notable guest speakers such as Cicely Tyson, Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, and Rosa Parks. This year’s speaker will be the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, president and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH coalition. The event will take place at noon on January 7 at the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus in the Turner Auditorium. Closed circuit locations will be available throughout the Johns Hopkins campuses.