On July 26, 2021, Chaplain Charles Grant, received the Stu Plitman First Responder Community Service Award at the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce’s 36th Annual Valor Awards at The National Conference Center in Leesburg. Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Stacey Metcalf presented the award at this annual event honoring more than 80 career and volunteer public servants and civilians.
Known to all of us as “Charlie,” Chaplain Grant is a 52-year Sterling resident, who first began working as an emergency services chaplain for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in 1979. In 1980, he became company chaplain at both the Sterling Volunteer Fire Department and Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Charlie founded the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue chaplain program, which now includes 24 active- response and station chaplains, as well as the Good Shepherd Alliance, which provides emergency housing and support to homeless Loudoun County residents. He also served as police and fire chaplain at both Washington Dulles and Ronald Reagan airports from 1996 to 2017.
“The list of ways that Charlie Grant has served our community is so long that it might take all afternoon to list it all,” Board Chair Metcalfe said before Barbara Plitman, the award namesake’s wife, who presented Charlie with the award, yielding a standing ovation from the hundreds in attendance.