Expand<\/a><\/p>\nThe 2026 Community Leadership Award went to the Cullens for their philanthropy work and support of the Rescue Mission and other local nonprofits. The couple met while attending Long Beach City College and married in 1994. They said their life together has been rooted in faith, family, friendship and service.<\/p>\n
Matt Cullen continues his commitment to service and community leadership as board chair of Precious Lamb Preschool, and as a member of the executive boards of the Long Beach Ronald McDonald House and Fuel Relief Fund, according to his biography. For more than a decade, Judy Cullen has volunteered with the Long Beach Rescue Mission and remains an active member of the Assistance League of Long Beach. She is also a past chair of Rick Rackers, according to her biography.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt and I are truly honored to receive this Long Beach Rescue Mission Community Leadership Award, an organization dedicated to restoring hope and transforming lives,\u201d Judy Cullen said during the event. \u201cThis honor is also a reminder that God has led us through the years, placing people and opportunities in our path that have allowed us to serve. We\u2019re especially grateful to all of our family and friends who got up bright and early this morning to help us celebrate. Your love and support mean so much to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt Cullen added that their family has been involved with the Rescue Mission for years and deeply believes in its mission. His work at Precious Lamb, he said, has given him a deeper appreciation for the work the mission does at its Lydia House, providing shelter and resources to women and children who are homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cJudy and I accept this honor very humbly, not as a recognition of what we\u2019ve done alone, but as a reminder (that) all the good work begins with God and is made possible through His grace and through people willing to serve one another,\u201d Matt Cullen said. \u201cWe feel especially blessed to serve alongside so many people with a heart for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Community Impact Award went to the Trauma Intervention Program of Long Beach, also known as TIP of Long Beach, which supports individuals and families during the first critical hours following traumatic events. Highly trained volunteers work alongside first responders to provide practical support, emotional stabilization and a calm presence while allowing survivors to begin coping in the midst of chaos, according to the nonprofit\u2019s biography.<\/p>\n
TIP Program Director Kryssie Booth, Assistant Program Director Susan Tanaka and Community Outreach Liaison Diana Kellstrom went on stage to accept the award on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time a family lets us in, they are allowing a stranger into the worst day of their life,\u201d Booth said during the event. \u201cIt is a sacred place to be invited to witness that grief and help carry some of its weight. None of us take it lightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince 2020-21, we have responded to almost 1,200 calls, and we have not missed a single one,\u201d Booth added. \u201cAnd none of this happens without our volunteers, people from this community, getting up at two in the morning to go be with someone that they\u2019ve never met. If our volunteers are here, would you please stand up because this recognition is for you. Thank you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Community leaders Matt and Judy Cullen and local nonprofit Trauma Intervention Program of Long Beach were recently recognized…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,3782,3739,131,133,132,137,3738],"class_list":["post-496975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-grunion-kindness","tag-grunion-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-the-grunion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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