The 19th Annual Spirit of the Vineyard Award was given to Armen and Vicky Hanjian on Monday morning, Dec. 12, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. Sponsored by Vineyard Village At Home, the award recognizes and thanks people who have volunteered for one or more nonprofit organizations on the Island and who have enriched the community by their service.

Vicky and Armen moved full time to the Island in 1994 to Oak Bluffs on land they had purchased in the mid-1960s. The Hanjians were both Methodist ministers and planned a working retirement. Volunteering would also become a large part of that equation.

Armen served two terms as vice president for the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity before leaving to coordinate the Island Food Pantry, which he has led as a volunteer for 20 years. Over the years Vicky has served as a bereavement counselor at Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard and volunteered for Windemere Nursing & Rehabilitation Center at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, where she leads a weekly group for elderly residents.

At the event on Monday, Betsy Burmeister spoke about Vicky’s and Armen’s years of volunteering at Windemere, driving residents to events and holding weekly discussion groups. Phil Dietterich spoke about their joint spirit of giving, and Rabbi Lori Shaller summed it all up.

“If the Vineyard Spirit is about being kind and generous, if it’s about giving more than you take, if it’s about cultivating and sustaining relationships, Vicky and Armen are exactly the right people to receive this award,” she said.

In accepting the award, Armen thanked those in attendance for their support and encouragement. Vicky noted that as Methodist ministers, they had moved from community to community during their working lives, but given a chance to put down roots, they chose the Vineyard.

“Once you have established roots,” she said, “you develop a feeling of community and a responsibility to contribute.”

Nominations for future Spirit of the Vineyard awards can be sent to Spirit of the Vineyard, c/o Polly Brown, PO Box 1356, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.