The Argus Foundation celebrates Reverend Don Roberts and T. Mabry Carlton at annual event

The Argus Foundation (ArgusFoundation.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to joining business leaders from diverse industries and leveraging their talents and experience to benefit the community, honored two community leaders last week at its 2015 Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The business organization recognized Reverend Don Roberts and posthumously honored T. Mabry Carlton for their dedicated community leadership. More than 300 guests attended the event held at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota on November 4, 2015.

“This was one of the highest turnouts we have ever experienced,” said Joe Hembree, president of The Argus Foundation board of directors. “These award nominees share the common values of a philanthropic spirit and dedication to the community with our membership and our founders. They have left a lasting legacy on our community and exemplify the philosophy of service to others in all they have done throughout their lives,” he said.

Since 2002, The Argus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Awards has been an annual highlight for the organization, honoring business people of Sarasota who have made valuable contributions to the community throughout their lives.

Reverend Roberts, a dedicated community activist and advocate, led the successful nonprofit organization Goodwill Manasota as its president for almost 40 years before his retirement in 2011.

“I want to acknowledge the many Argus Foundation board members over the years that supported Goodwill Industries during my tenure of service there,” said Reverend Don Roberts, who attended the event with his wife and several Goodwill Manasota employees. “I was just the guy who carried the water pails; it was the many Argus Foundation members who are reflective of Sarasota’s philanthropic community who truly deserve recognition.”

Mabry Carlton, an eighth generation Floridian, rancher and notable Sarasota County philanthropist, was a Sarasota County Commissioner from 1980-89 before he passed away after a plane crash in 1989. During his tenure on the Sarasota County Commission, Carlton played a critical role in the County’s purchase of a 24,000-acre natural preserve. After his death, the preserve was renamed the Mabry Carlton Memorial Reserve in his honor.

Carlton’s children, grandchildren and wife attended the event in his honor. ”We are extremely humbled that after 26 years the members of The Argus Foundation would choose to honor his contribution to our community,” said Lisa Carlton, former State Senator and Carlton’s daughter. “We consider it an honor that an organization so deeply committed to our community would choose to acknowledge him with this distinction.”

About The Argus Foundation

Established in Sarasota in 1983, The Argus Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to joining business leaders from diverse industries and leveraging their talents and experience to benefit the community. The organization, which seeks to facilitate communications between the public and private sectors, has more than 170 members from 50 different industries. For more information, visit ArgusFoundation.org.