Reading Resident A Finalist For MA 6th Congressional District Award

READING, MA — Reading’s Erica McNamara is among finalists for this year’s Massachusetts Sixth Congressional District Peter J. Gomes Service Award, Congressman Seth Moulton announced last week.

McNamara currently heads the Reading Coalition for Prevention and Support, continuing 14 years of work to provide education, support and advocacy, as noted in Moulton’s announcement.

McNamara is a certified mental health first aid instructor. She also teaches various health education courses for a variety of age groups.

Before Reading, McNamara previously spent 13 years working with the Lowell Community Health Center.

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The Gomes Award is given annually to a community member in the Massachusetts Sixth Congressional district who exemplify "the qualities of integrity, compassion, and unwavering commitment to their community,” according to Moulton’s announcement.

The award bears the name of the late Rev. Peter J. Gomes, who Moulton has credited as a mentor.

Gomes traveled throughout the U.S. and beyond throughout his life, delivering lectures and preaching to a variety of audiences. He was involved in presidential and Massachusetts gubernatorial inaugurations over the years and was hailed as “one of America’s leading preachers” by the Harvard Gazette when he died in 2011.

Gomes spent close to 40 years serving in the Memorial Church of Harvard University.

“As a preacher, teacher, author, and leader, he influenced many with his ready wit and wisdom and, perhaps above all, with his commitment to service, whether to his immediate community, in support of those in the armed forces, or to universal humanitarian causes,” Moulton’s office said last week.

Moulton and his team will honor this year’s Gomes Award finalists and announce an individual award winner at an event at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Old Town Hall in Salem.

Other finalists include:

• Hannah Finn and Claudia Mintz, Andover, MA
• Lyn Freeman, Salem, MA
• Gordon Shepard, Saugus, MA
• Sheila Trieff, Newburyport, MA