Courageous Love Award Reception

Each year our Social Justice Committee selects several area citizens whose special loving and courageous actions make our community a better place to live. This year’s selectees are Deborah Bush, Jacquelyn Callanen, and Laquita Garcia.

Deborah Bush is the aunt of Marquis Jones, a young man who was shot and killed by an off-duty San Antonio police officer in 2014. Since then, Deborah has become a fierce advocate against police brutality and gun violence and has established the Marquis Jones Foundation to advocate and comfort grieving families and make sure their stories are not forgotten.

Jacquelyn Callanen has served as the Bexar County Elections Administrator for 17 years. During that time, she has worked diligently to run well-managed elections even when voter intimidation and toxic politics divided the country. In 2022, officials and volunteer poll workers received threats and 48 polling sites were closed, but Jacquelyn worked conscientiously, addressing each issue as it arose and providing us with free, fair, and legal elections.

Laquita Garcia is the statewide Right-to-Justice policy Coordinator for the Texas Organizing Project. She has worked for TOPS since 2013 in Dallas, then moved to San Antonio to establish our local office. Laquita oversees the Statewide Bail Disrupter program and works daily at the local, county, and state levels for racial and economic justice.

Please welcome our recipients and join us in presenting the 2023 awards during this Sunday’s service. Immediately following the service, we will host a Cake and Punch reception on the patio where you can meet and get to know these community heroes.