In my mind, when the words “awards,” “ceremony,” “buffet,” “speeches” “plaques” and “suburbs” are combined in one sentence, I’m already getting nervous and wondering what iPhone activity I can do to while away the time while the speeches drone on.

In Howard County, each year for the past 35 years, there is exactly one of these events. It’s called the Audrey Robbins Humanitarian Awards Luncheon. And, for a combination of reasons, I’ve attended this event for several years running. The awards ceremony is put on by the Association of Community Services of Howard County (ACS). ACS is a membership organization that works at the nexus of over 120 local service organizations, and its members range from non-profit health and human services groups, to government agencies, to for-profit businesses, to faith-based organizations, to concerned community advocates.