The NAB Education Foundation (NABEF) celebrated the 12th annual Service to America Awards, in Washington, D.C. on June 14. The dinner and awards ceremony recognized the exceptional public service contributions of radio and television broadcasters, and also featured the presentation of NABEF's highest honor, the Service to America Leadership Award, to Starkey Hearing Foundation organizers William and Tani Austin. The gala event included award presentations from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Sens. Richard Burr, Amy Klobuchar and Claire McCaskill, Reps. John Kline, Mark Schauer and Greg Walden, and FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell.

"Since 1999, the Celebration of Service to America Awards has recognized broadcasters and charitable organizations for their tireless efforts in serving communities across the country, touching the hearts of thousands of Service to America attendees in the process," said NAB Education Foundation President Marcellus Alexander. "We are grateful for another heartwarming ceremony, and thank all guests and presenters for their role in making this event such a success."

The ceremony honored station winners WRAZ-TV Durham, N.C., KSTP-FM Minneapolis, WWMT-TV Kalamazoo, Mich., KPAM-AM Portland, Ore., and KOMU-TV Columbia, Mo., with the Service to America Television Award, the Service to Children Awards and the Service to Community Awards. Additionally, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas presented William and Tani Austin with the Service to America Leadership Award for their dedication to providing more than 442,000 hearing aids to children and adults around the world through their Starkey Hearing Foundation. The foundation's extraordinary public service efforts include a commitment to distribute more than 1 million free hearing aids worldwide in this decade.

Also featured during the event was the presentation of the Service to America President's Special Award to Haiti's Signal FM, recognizing the radio station for their outstanding service to the Haitian community following the aftermath of the earthquake disaster.

Click here to view highlights of the event.