 The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown (UUCJ) is presenting their 2026 T. Richard Parker Award for Social Justice to Justin Hubbard. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 21, 10:30 a.m., at the church at 1255 Prendergast Avenue in Jamestown. All are welcome to the service and reception that follows. To participate virtually, use the link at UUJamestown.org/calendar.
Hubbard is the founder and leader of the Jamestown Justice Coalition (JJC), established in 2020 during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. The JJC’s mission is “Pursuing recognition, dignity, and equity for people in our community and promoting justice and democracy for all.” For his efforts building a student activist group at Salamanca High School, where he teaches social studies and civics, Hubbard was one of three recipients of the national American Civic Education Teacher Award in 2022. He has been a panelist, presenter and keynote speaker for a variety of organizations including the NYS Bar Association, NYS Education Department Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Columbia University Teachers College, and many others. The JCC graduate earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SUNY Fredonia. The Parker Award was established in 1985 as a memorial for T. Richard Parker, a leader in the Unitarian Church of Jamestown. A committee of church members decides the recipient, a person or group in the Jamestown area that contributed significantly to the cause of social justice during the preceding year. Social justice is distinguished from charity as efforts to create social change to assist groups or classes of persons in a permanent way, rather than being temporary assistance to specific individuals. The award includes a monetary gift from an endowment fund. The first recipient of the Parker Award was Anna May Cole, for her work in literacy education with prisoners. Over the years, other recipients have included Ronald Graham, for his work in the formation of the Jamestown Striders program; Helga Hulse, for giving piano and choir singing lessons to women inmates at the Chautauqua County Jail; Gregory Peterson, for his initiative in establishing the Robert H. Jackson Center; Rev. Nicholas Rafael, for his work in founding St. Susan Center; David Shepherd, for organizing with several community organizations that serve the needs of disadvantaged people; and Ruby Wiles, for her work providing free books to children. Recent awardees have been the Jamestown Mobile Market for bringing fresh food to neighborhoods in Jamestown that lack the availability of fresh food; the Wellness and Forensic Center of Western New York & Northwestern Pennsylvania for starting a medical clinic, the first of its kind in New York state, to attend to the medical and psychological care of victims of sexual violence; and the New Neighbors Coalition for helping immigrants to become established in Jamestown. The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown has parking behind its location at 1255 Prendergast Avenue and spaces across the street in the lot of Christ First United Methodist Church. For information about the Jamestown Justice Coalition, visit their website at JamestownJusticeCoalition.org or follow on Facebook.com/JamestownJusticeCoalition.
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