Brunswick Native Leads NECC To National Honor

A 20-year-old Brunswick native recently received national recognition for his support of American veterans.

Corby Forbes, son of Doug and Judy Forbes, accepted the APCA Nationals Service Event of the Year honor earlier this month in Dallas.

Representing Northeast Community College, Forbes accepted the award for the college’s Student Government Association, which he serves as president. 

Taking top honors this year was the Blankets for Vets project completed by Forbes and his fellow NECC students. Each year a member of the SGA is assigned a veteran from the Norfolk Veteran’s Home.

Unique blankets, designed to match the interests of the residents, are hand-crafted by the students and presented to the veterans as Christmas gifts. 

"We do this because we know many of the veterans won’t receive a gift for Christmas and we feel like it would be a great way to give back considering all they have done for us,” says Forbes. “It was a very special moment, and I’ll never forget how happy they were when they received them.”

Forbes was also nominated individually for National Programmer of the Year. NECC advisor, Carissa Kollath and Erika Rupprecht, whom nominated Forbes, both traveled to the APCA Nationals thanks to special funding.

Although falling short of winning the National Programmer of the Year award, being nominated and attending the ceremony was still a huge accomplishment.

Forbes will graduate from Northeast Community College in May with an Associate of Arts in Business Administration then plans to pursue his bachelor’s or master’s degree at the University of Nebraska.