Governor Josh Stein announced Thursday that the North Carolina Awards, the state's highest civilian honor, are returning to Raleigh this November, with ticket proceeds this time benefiting two charities that serve veterans and military families. The 2026 ceremony will bring together six honorees spanning literature, public service, science, and the fine arts, and will be held at Lenovo Center on November 17.
Stein made the announcement in a post on X, writing that the event will raise money for Blue Star Families and Camp Corral, two organizations that support veterans and military families. The governor's office separately confirmed the full slate of 2026 honorees: author Jason Mott for Literature; NASCAR icon Richard Petty, retired Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, and former N.C. State Chancellor Dr. Randy Woodson for Public Service; paleontologist Dr. Lindsay Zanno for Science; and painter Beverly McIver for Fine Arts, according to the N.C. Governor's Office.
Among the honorees, Petty's name carries a particularly local resonance beyond the racetrack. As WCNC notes, the public service honoree previously established Victory Junction in 2004, a North Carolina camp for children with serious medical conditions created in memory of his grandson Adam Petty.
A Statutory Honor Dating Back to 1961
The North Carolina Awards were established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1961 under General Statute § 140A-2, following a proposal by State Senator Robert Lee Humber, and were first conferred in 1964 as the state's highest civilian honor, per NCpedia. Each recipient receives a 14-karat gold medal designed by sculptor Paul Manship shortly before his death in 1966, featuring the Great Seal of North Carolina and the inscribed motto “Achievement Is Man's Mark of Greatness.”
The ceremony's return to Raleigh follows a departure from tradition in 2025, when the event was held outside the capital for the first time, in Asheville. Ticket proceeds from that ceremony raised nearly $200,000 for the North Carolina Community Foundation to support Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, according to WPTF. This year's proceeds will instead support military-connected charities, continuing what WPTF describes as a clear trend under Stein of connecting the annual awards banquet to major charitable causes.
Two Charities With Deep Ties to Military Families
Camp Corral is a national non-profit headquartered in Raleigh, founded in 2011 with Golden Corral as its founding sponsor, that has provided free summer camp and enrichment experiences to more than 30,000 children of wounded, ill, or fallen military members. Blue Star Families, established in 2009 by military family members, reaches more than 1.5 million military family members annually through programs that build community integration between military families and civilian populations.
The charitable pairing builds on other moves by the Stein administration to support military families across the state. Last August, Stein formally designated North Carolina as a “Do Your Part State,” committing state agencies to a joint framework created by Blue Star Families and the National Governors Association to improve state-level programs for military families. North Carolina is home to more than 600,000 military veterans and over 135,000 active-duty service members, giving it the fourth-largest active military population in the nation.
That commitment has shown up elsewhere in Stein's public schedule. Hoodline previously reported on the governor's visit with commanders at Camp Lejeune, and on a Friendsgiving meal Stein and the First Lady served to service members at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The Venue: Lenovo Center's Recent Rebrand
This year's ceremony will be held at Lenovo Center, which seats up to 20,000 and was formerly known as PNC Arena before officially rebranding in September 2024 under a 10-year naming rights deal between the Carolina Hurricanes and Lenovo. Tickets for the November 17 event are available through Ticketmaster, according to the governor's announcement.
.jpg){kind=link}