Volunteers honored with state awards
By Steve Herring
Published in News on April 12, 2012 1:46 PM
Six Wayne County residents Wednesday morning were presented North Carolina Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Services in recognition of their work in the community.
Honored were: Nettie Twiggs and Sheila Gardner of Goldsboro and Dorothy Gail Sutton of Dudley, senior citizens category; Amy Glunn of Dudley and Cathy Tercero of Pikeville, individual category; and Tanya Rollins, long-time past president of the Wayne County Association of Volunteer Administration, director of volunteers category.
Ms. Twiggs, who has been a volunteer with the legal assistance office at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base for the past two years, also was selected as the county's Medallion Award winner. Each of the state's 100 counties select a Medallion Award winner and the names are forwarded to the governor's office where a committee selects 20 out the 100 to receive state medallions.
Mrs. Gardner is a "therapaws" volunteer at Cherry Hospital. She and her dogs, Jerry Lee, Gracie and Oliver, visit the geriatric, adolescent and adult units at the hospital.
"She allows patients to pet her animals and enjoy warm, fuzzy hugs and wet sloppy kisses," wrote a nominator. "Mrs. Gardner is reliable, enthusiastic, has a positive attitude and possesses a sincere desire to help others. She has the ability to interact with people of various backgrounds and make them feel comfortable with her and her dogs."
Mrs. Sutton has volunteered for nearly four years at Home Health and Hospice Care and Kitty Hospice Center.
Her nominator wrote, "She shows enormous compassion toward her patients. Mrs. Sutton realizes that the patients are only there for a short time, but manages to make each and every one special with her warm smiles. She feels no patient should ever die alone, and will sit with a patient who is dying."
Ms. Glunn, an airman first class stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, has volunteered for the past eight months as a bilingual translator/interpreter for World Relief International -- a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid, disaster and emergency relief.
Her nominator wrote, "Over the past year Ms. Glunn has volunteered over 400 hours within her local community and abroad. She is focused on using her talents and passions to help others as she volunteers at myriad organizations."
Air Force Staff Sgt. Tercero volunteers with the Literacy Connection of Wayne County.
"She's organized and very detailed oriented and comes in with a plan and ensures that her student understands everything," her nominator wrote. "Regardless as to how long it may take, she will take the extra step to go over an item or a task little by little until that persons grasps the topic."
Mrs. Rollins has been the volunteer services director at Cherry Hospital since 1999, where she is responsible for supervising a paid staff of four and more than 175 volunteers.
Her nominator wrote, "Tanya Rollins is the epitome of a dedicated, hard-working, loyal, professional and compassionate volunteer services director. She has a true servant's heart. She leads by example, displaying the integrity and provides attention to detail in the quality of her work, which is always at the forefront of everything that she does."