Jonas and Kate Werner – no strangers to community service awards – are co-winners of the 2015 Freeport Citizen of the Year Award, presented to them at the Town Council meeting on March 1.

The award, which dates back to 1996, is presented to outstanding citizens of Freeport “who, by their initiative and efforts over the years, have made Freeport a wonderful place to live.” The Werners’ names are the latest to be displayed on a plaque in the Town Hall.

Shari Broder and Eric Bryant nominated the Werners for the award. The Special Projects Committee, a three-member council subcommittee made up of Melanie Sachs, Scott Gleeson and Lee Arris this year, reviewed the applications and chose the Werners to share the award.

The Werners, owners of Azure Cafe, won the Carol Kaplan Community Service Award in 2011 and the Freeport Merchants Award last year for their community service.

“It was our Super Tuesday,” Jonas Warner said Wednesday.

Werner, who grew up in South Florida, said he learned from his parents how to think about the world around him.

“The rewards that I get for the good things that I do, I get when I do them,” he said. “It’s amazing that Kate and I are singled out in a community where people do nice things every day. We’re just so lucky to be in such an amazing place and so honored to be recognized in such an amazing place.”

Every year, the Werners use their resources at Azure Cafe to sponsor the free Thanksgiving Dinner at the Freeport Community Center.

Kate Werner, who spends much time volunteering in Freeport schools, said that the Thanksgiving Dinner is a favorite event, in terms of bringing everyone together.

“That gathering is just fantastic and we’re just so blessed to be able to do it,” she said. “Whether people have money or whether people don’t have money, they come and gather together.”

Gleeson reiterated those thoughts when he read the Town Council presentation.

“Rich and poor, young and old attend this wonderful event, which provides over 200 free meals to residents at the Community Center, and many home-delivered meals to those who are home-bound,” Gleeson said at the council presentation. “Other people I know outside of Freeport (and outside Maine) are amazed that we have this dinner every year, and that it is substantially funded and implemented by a local business.”

Both Kate and Jonas Werner are generous donors to local causes, such as the Maine Drama Festival, donating large pans of lasagna for cast parties at Freeport High School.

“Kate has been very involved in improving the quality of education for students in Freeport (and now Regional School Unit 5) schools,” Gleeson continued. “She served on the gifted-and-talented committee for several years, and advocated for excellence in programming for Freeport’s academically and artistically gifted students. She has also been an advocate and volunteer for the performing arts programs in our schools. Kate worked tirelessly for many hours as a member of the Freeport Withdrawal Committee last year. Her intelligence, reliability and the depth of her commitment are an inspiration.”

Kate Werner said she gets great satisfaction from her work in the schools, where she has been volunteering for a number of years. She has led the fundraising effort for theater events, including the Freeport Middle School musical.

“We adore this town,” she said. “We are so happy to have Freeport as our home town.”

Gleeson said that Jonas Werner has involved himself in many ways, including the board of the Freeport Shakespeare Company, and acting in Freeport Players productions. Jonas Werner, along with Gar Roper, started a writers’ workshop called Upstairs at Azure, where local writers meet for support and camaraderie.

The Werners are also involved in an effort to create a Freeport Arts & Cultural Alliance.