Dawnn Jaffier's Memory Kept Alive With 8th Annual Light Of Dawnn Awards

BOSTON (CBS) -- The three recipients of this year's Light of Dawnn Awards were celebrated over a Zoom meeting Monday morning. The awards are part of a remembrance of Dawnn Jaffier, the 26-year-old woman who was shot and killed at Boston's Caribbean Festival in 2014.

The three recipients of the eighth annual awards were Desmond Kennard, the assistant director at Young Man With A Plan, Marie Joseph, evening coordinator at The Boston Home, and Maya Dixon, an advocate at Women's Lunch Place.

They were selected because they share Dawnn's passion of serving those most in need.

"After learning that I had been nominated for the Light of Dawnn award, I took some time to learn about Dawnn Jaffier's legacy and I was blown away by the amount of lives she has touched in her time here, which makes this even more humbling," said Dixon.

"I do this because I was once a high school student who didn't have any mentors, no direction or plan for life," said Kennard.

"I am so honored and so happy that I get to work with such a wonderful group of people," said Joseph.

Jaffier had just started a career in service when she died. She was a mentor, a tutor, and a coach. Those who knew her described her as a bridge-builder and a light in the lives of those she worked with.

Her father Ian has said it's his mission to keep his daughter's memory alive by spreading messages of hope and peace.

"This happens to be the last day of Black History Month and coincidently it would have been her 34th birthday," he said Monday.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu also spoke at the ceremony.

"We are all so lucky to have lived in this city with her and to live in the glow of her light," she said.