Gov. John E. Baldacci and the Maine Commission for Community Service recognized the winners of the 2008 Governor's Service Awards for their exceptional contributions to Maine communities. Twenty-seven individuals, organizations and companies were recognized for their exemplary service to their communities.

"You know the enormous impact citizens can have on their communities when they give their time and talents," said Baldacci to the awardees. "During these challenging economic times, it's even more important that there are caring individuals who are willing to give their time and efforts to help their neighbors. You get things done not once a year, but every day."

For the past 11 years L. J. McPeake has continued to make a difference in the lives of children in Lewiston and Auburn.

"I read to kids. I'm hoping they get a lot out of it. I get a ton out of it," said McPeake. "It's very pleasurable to give kids exposure to reading."

McPeake, of Durham, envisioned BookReach Early Childhood Literacy Program of Lewiston and Auburn and in 1997 he made his vision a reality. Now he reads to the children on a regular basis, putting his personality and vigor into his performances. As a result the children consider McPeake their favorite reader.

"Peter Geiger and I were a part of the Lewiston twin city aspiration partnership, and we got together and developed the program to make a difference in the community," said McPeake. "Peter told me that if kids can read by second grade, they grow up more responsibly and have a much easier time learning. I'm a strong believer in promoting literacy. We do outreach helping child-care providers, so I read in three different places. The exciting thing is that the program has taken off. Right now we've got 40 volunteers."

BookReach has three goals:

• To bring a regular reading program and the best in children's literature to toddlers and preschoolers in family child-care homes

• To foster children's enthusiasm for books so they will be ready to learn when they reach school

• To increase familiarity of area families and child-care providers with a great variety of quality children's resources

"Each volunteer reader is matched with a licensed family child-care home, where we read aloud to children under age 5 years from a different bag of picture books every one to two weeks," said McPeake. "The books are left there to be explored by the kids with the child-care providers until our next visit."

McPeake knows the value of reading. He also serves on Maine's Literacy Program Advisory Board. McPeake is an incredibly busy man but always makes sure he makes the time to volunteer.

At a separate afternoon ceremony at the Maine State Museum, 410 volunteers were inducted to the Roll of Honor for their outstanding service to the state. Inductees have collectively donated 405,100 hours of service.

"Maine ranks number 2 in the Northeastern states for the percentage of volunteerism that gets done. Frankly I think we are number 1. People do what they do because they want to; many of them don't clock hours, so their work goes unrecorded. They don't look for credit. One lady told me, 'they were there for me; I want to be there for others.' It's a wonderful trait Maine people have," said Baldacci. "People in Maine have a passion for helping out others. I'm glad we get a chance to honor some of them every year."

The Governor's Service Awards were created in an effort to celebrate and recognize the exemplary work of Maine's volunteer community. Nominations are accepted November through February from citizens, nonprofits, government volunteer programs, educational institutions and businesses. The event is hosted annually by the governor's office and the Maine Commission for Community Service as part of National Volunteer Week. This year's ceremony was sponsored by the National Emergency Response Team.