The selection of Sheriff Mike McCoy as our Neve Harms Award winner this year was a natural. The Neve Harms Award is given each year to the person who makes significant contributions to the youth of the greater Peoria area. We've all heard and read about the run from Peoria to Memphis for St. Jude each August. Mike McCoy founded the St. Jude Run in 1982, and the children of St. Jude and their parents are well aware of this charity. This event has raised over $15.6 million dollars for St. Jude since its inception.

Sheriff McCoy graduated from the FBI National Academy in 1976, and in 1979 he was named Chief of Police in Peoria Heights. Then McCoy was appointed as the 55th Sheriff of Peoria County on June 10, 2002.

McCoy has always been a staunch supporter of youth activities in the Peoria area, earning the St. Jude Volunteer of the Year Award in 2004, and the 0SF /Children's Hospital Bill Houlihan Award in 2005.