The awards, sponsored by the College's Appalachian Center, recognize individuals who have rendered outstanding service to society in keeping with the ideals of Berea's Great Commitments.

Also being presented Service Awards are Mississippi forester and conservationist Chester Thigpen and Daniel Green, founder of the David School in Floyd County, a school which provides tuition-free education for drop-outs and other at-risk students.

Phelps has headed the state support organization for Kentucky's 65 Habitat affiliates since October 1995. She also is currently serving Habitat for Humanity International as the Project Coordinator of the 2001 "World Leaders Build" in South Korea next year. She was Project Coordinator of "Hammering in the Hills" in 1997 and is project director of "Homes for 2000" -- a three-year statewide initiative involving all of the nonprofit providers in Kentucky with the goal of housing at least 2,000 families in Kentucky by the end of the year 2000. The project also seeks to make the public more aware of the plight of the poor with respect to housing. Phelps also was press secretary for Gov. Brereton Jones and was the nightly news anchor at WLEX for 15 years.

Thigpen has worked for decades in conservation efforts in Mississippi since buying a tree farm in 1940 with his wife, Rosett, who died this past year. For his activism in forestry, he was inducted into the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame. He advised the state's governor from 1976-79, has served for seven years as Commissioner for the Mississippi Forestry Commission and he has testified before the U.S. Congress because of his extensive expertise on forestry and agriculture.

Greene, the son of a Brooklyn banker, had himself encountered difficulties in school while growing up. In 1974, he founded the David School with the help of two other volunteers while attending Prestonsburg Community College. Currently enrolling 75 students, the school offers personal attention and curriculum that mixes academic work with labor, discipline and love. The David School also offers a GED program for parents. In the 1980s, the school bought an additional 200 acres on which a new school building, cabins for volunteers, a wildlife refuge, pond and hiking trails have been built.