Volunteers honored
By Turner Walston
Published in News on April 13, 2005 1:48 PM
King said it was appropriate to set aside a week to recognize and pay respects to volunteers. "We need to make it more than a week." he said. "It is not just a week; it's a lifetime."
A skit featuring members of the Wayne Community College drama club stressed the importance of volunteering.
The highlight of the event was a "check"for $479,945 presented to Goldsboro and Wayne County. The "check" represented the approximate amount it would cost to pay the community's volunteers. Commissioner Atlas Price and Goldsboro City Councilman Donnie Chatman accepted on behalf of the community.
The Wayne County RSVP presented more than 75 Volunteer Service Awards. Each recipient was given a pin, a certificate of achievement, a note of congratulations from President George Bush and a letter from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
Evelyn Jefferson was the first recipient of the Volunteer Service award. Ms. Jefferson serves through her church, Best Grove Missionary Baptist, WAGES, and the North Carolina Extension Advisory Council, among other organizations.
"You work every day," Ms. Jefferson said, "not for rewards, but for the love of it. Such small things make a big impact."
Ms. Stiles is now in her third year as director of the program. She said there is a common thread present in volunteers she sees. "They all care. That's the most important ingredient about being a volunteer."
Volunteer Wayne and RSVP connect volunteers to about 70 agencies with a variety of needs in the community, Ms. Stiles said.
Those receiving awards included Brownie Doss and Donna Archer, for Excellence in Reporting; Suzanne Tyner, who received the Excellence in Recruitment Award; and Penny Withrow, who received the Leadership Excellence Award.
Gaspar Gonzalez, though not present at the ceremony, received the Spirit Award.
Certificates of appreciation went to the community partners, including Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, the Corporation for National Service, the United Way of Wayne County, The Goldsboro News-Argus, the Family Support Center at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Parker Advertising, Strickland Insurance Group, Wayne Community College, Sunburst Foods, Wayne County Association of Volunteer Administration and the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce.
The recipients of the Volunteer Service Awards included Evelyn Adams-Lewis, Chris Amon, Ethel Mae Baldwin, Annie Bellamy, Gloria Best, Angelena Bowden, Dora Bowden, Mabel Britton, Louise Broadhurst, Robert Brown, Peggy Chalk, Mary Clark, Roland Coley, Andrew Corbin, Helen Cox, Mevis Crawford, Edward Davidson, Mary Davis, Helen Dobberson, John Earl, Ethel Edwards, Frederick Ellis, Adline Faison, Carol Falls, Emma Fennell, Walter Fennell, Willie Fogg, Mable Frederick, Ida Fryar, Hermanita Harris, Mary Hayman, Annie Hedgepeth, Edna Herring, James Hill, Louise Hill, Jesse Hughes, Evelyn Jefferson, Ezekiel Jones, William J. Jones, June Kaylor, James Kennedy, Rose Koch, Thomas Kornegay, Alma Lewis, Myrtle Long, Edna McKeel, Lorice McMillan, Inez Mitchell, Emma Newkirk, Donald Nobers, Ethel Oliver, Willie Lee Oliver, Lamar Owensby, Rochelle Page, Dora Perry, Joann Peterson, Marie Phillips, Saundra Pickett, William P. Pitt, Eric Protz, May Belle Rivenbark, Bill Rowe, Peggy Rowe, Sadie Saunders, Gloria Sauls, Lui Solice, Lillie W. Spruill, Hannah Sullivan, Hugh Tate, John Taylor, Flora Taylor, Gayle Thompson, Norma Thornton, Thelma L. Walls, Ruth Whitaker, James Williams and Iris Wooten.