The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) honored Eslene Richmond-Shockley, Founder and CEO of Caring For Others, Inc., with the Walter Lawson Community Service Award during their annual awards banquet on held on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. The ceremony concluded the organization’s 42nd Annual Training Conference held at the Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida.
“To be recognized by a group as dedicated to humanity as the members of NOBLE, who put their lives at risk everyday for the benefit of other people, is truly an honor,” said Mrs. Shockley. “Providing care to people in need, whether that need is caused by a natural disaster or by the commonplace hardship of poverty, is what I feel God has called me to do through Caring For Others.”
NOBLE’s Walter Lawson Community Service Award honors the memory of the late NOBLE member Walter Lawson who died in a car accident in 1982 on his way home from the annual conference. At the time of his death, Mr. Lawson was retired from the Seattle Washington Police Department after serving 21 years as head of the department’s Traffic Enforcement division. The award is donated each year by Motorola to a person who has made significant contributions to his or her community. NOBLE officials and board members cite Mrs. Shockley’s “great work and leadership in service provided to our great country” as the reasons for her selection.
“Mrs. Shockley was awarded the Walter Lawson award because of her continuous dedicated service to underserved and disenfranchised communities,” said Clarence Cox III, NOBLE president. “She worked tirelessly in her efforts to assist NOBLE in partnership to provide aid to the Baton Rouge community through the Convoy of Care. Mrs. Shockley’s commitment to assist others during recent natural disasters ensured members of the community received much needed relief and were not overlooked. She continued her efforts to other communities including organizing relief efforts for Puerto Rico, Louisiana and Texas. These and many other selfless acts of giving of her time and energy made her an excellent fit for the Walter Lawson Community Service Award.”
Mrs. Shockley, in partnership with a group of concerned people and organizations, established the Convoy of Care in 2016 to provide food, clothing, household products and personal items to victims of natural disasters. Serving victims of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, floods in 2016 was the group’s first mission. In 2017, the Convoy of Care provided aid to storm victims in Albany, Georgia, as well as to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas, and to residents of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The Convoy’s current members include NOBLE, Atlanta-based television station WSB-TV, Holland Trucking Company, a number of law enforcement officials and Caring For Others, Inc.
“I am grateful that NOBLE as well as the other people and organizations that join with us to provide this critical care to people around the world find Caring For Others an organization worthy of their partnership and time. It is a relationship of tremendous value and blessing to our mission and to the work we do to help others,” Mrs. Shockley concluded.
