AGAPE executive director receives Lipscomb's 2010 Mary Morris Award

Tom Burton, executive director of AGAPE, a long-time Middle Tennessee children’s services and counseling agency, received the 2010 Mary Morris Award for Exemplary Service to Society from Lipscomb University on Thursday, April 22.

 

Burton, who has led AGAPE for more than 25 years, was honored for his tireless work to bring faith-based adoption and foster care services to Middle Tennessee through expansion of AGAPE. During his tenure, AGAPE has grown to include 17 affiliate locations which offer primarily counseling and psychological services. Additionally, AGAPE continues its original mission to offer adoption and foster care, as well as support services for women with an unplanned pregnancy.

 

The Mary Morris Award was established to honor another outstanding servant to humanity who died of cancer at age 36 in September, 2005. Morris was an associate professor of education and founder of the Center for Character Development at Lipscomb University, which promoted the Character Counts! program in schools, businesses and organizations throughout the city.

 

The Mary Morris Award is given annually to someone who demonstrates a high level of service to community and church and who exhibits vision in creating new avenues to expand Christian principles in unconventional ways.

 

Burton is a Brentwood resident who has also served as president of the Brentwood Rotary Club, where he led an effort to establish a bone marrow compatibility testing program that has tested more than 25,000 people. He has also served as an elder at the Harpeth Hills Church of Christ for the past 17 years.

 

“It is an honor to be recognized in the same arena as Mary Morris, someone who had such a positive influence on Nashville,” said Burton during his acceptance speech before the Lipscomb student body. “She was an advocate of building character, and I believe that when you apply character to what you do each day, you will always be surprised to receive recognition, because practicing character becomes a habit that is immediate and natural.”

 

Burton has modeled a life of character, devoting his life to caring for children after his service in the Vietnam War opened his eyes to the millions of orphans around the world. Before coming to AGAPE, he worked at the Children’s Home of Lubbock in Texas.

 

Previous winners of the Mary Morris Award are Nancy Moon Gonzalez, who develops curriculum and character education for schools in Guatemala and Honduras; Randy Steger, founder of Healing Hands International; Jon Lee, director of the Living Water Project; and Andrew and Lindsey Krinks, local advocates for the homeless.