Man from Orange earns volunteer award

From Texas Department of Criminal Justice 

(AUSTIN) - Leonard Davis of Orange was presented the Governor's 2009 Criminal Justice Volunteer Service Award today in recognition of the extensive time he has spent ministering to inmates incarcerated within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The award was presented by special guest and keynote speaker Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairman Oliver Bell, and TDCJ Executive Director Brad Livingston during a ceremony held in Austin. Davis is one of 14 individuals and 5 organizations from across the state recognized for their efforts to help inmates and those who are on parole or probation.

"Each of these men and women has given selflessly to the state of Texas," said Livingston. "Through their efforts, they have promoted positive change in those offenders who are incarcerated, and helped other inmates to succeed after they are released."  

Davis was presented with an award honoring the "Greatest Number of Hours" volunteered. In 2008, he contributed a whopping 1,953 hours while ministering to inmates at the LeBlanc Unit in Beaumont where he as been a volunteer since September 1994. He volunteers some 40 hours per week at the unit, assisting the unit chaplain.

This is the third time Davis, 79, has been recognized with this award. In 2007, he volunteered 1,784 hours at the LeBlanc and Stiles units in Beaumont.

For 19 years, Davis served as church school superintendent and youth coordinator of the First Methodist Church of Orange. He took notice as some of the youth began getting in trouble and it prompted him to volunteer as a minister in the Orange County Jail. That work extended to state prisons in both Texas and Louisiana where he was a volunteer with Bill Glass Prison Ministries.

Davis is a retired captain with the U.S. Air Force where he was a research chemist. He also retired as a chemical engineer with Sunoil Company, and spent time working as a stockbroker for E.F. Hutton.

He is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering.