Local & State Headlines

Groups honor area volunteers

• Individuals and groups who give time and resources to the Albany community are honored at a luncheon.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — A Sherwood teen, an Albany State University coach and the President of the Junior Woman’s Club of Albany were honored Wednesday as Volunteers of the Year by Volunteer Albany and United Way of Southwest Georgia.

The Junior Woman’s Club also was named group of the year at the volunteer lunch, held at First United Methodist Church in downtown Albany.

A volunteer for many years with Girl Scouts, voter registration drives, American Cancer Society and Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Sylvia Hart never heard the word “volunteer” as a child, though she watched her mother, a nurse, care for the sick in her neighborhood and give away fruits and vegetables the family canned during the summer.

“Helping others” meant doing things without any obligation, but her mother’s actions inspired Hart, speaker at the luncheon, to volunteer throughout her own life.

“When you give to someone else, you receive a gift within,” Hart said, noting the return of a “sense of happiness” that is “soul-satisfying.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” Hart said, quoting Mohandas Gandhi.

Named Albany’s Volunteer of the Year in the community service category was Michelle Bates, the president of the Junior Woman’s Club of Albany.

In addition to her work with the women’s group, Bates regularly gives her time to community projects such as Albany Marathon and Mardi Gras, Thronateeska Heritage Center and the Lee County High School Marching Trojans.

“Her dedication and enthusiasm encourages others to volunteer their time as well,” said presenter Jessica Norman of Albany Community Hospice.

Also nominated for the award were Palmyra Nursing Home volunteer Jo Flourney, Terrell Head Start volunteers Undrekia Barnes and Jada Martin, Dougherty tutor Lee Don, hospice volunteers Jerry Williams and Penny Stevenson and Sumner Head Start volunteers Kathy Chumley and Stacey Colter.

Honored with the Harry Goldstein Lifetime Volunteer Service Award was Albany State University Coach Dan Land.

The former NFL player works with Albany Boys and Girls Club, Special Olympics and Albany YMCA, in addition to serving as a Lake Park Elementary board member and ASU student advisor.

Also nominated for the lifetime service award was Martistene Williams, a volunteer for many years with Albany Community Hospice.

Winning the award for youth was Sherwood Christian Academy student Kelsey Richter, who volunteers with Stockings for Hope, Chick Chat and Camp Good Grief, for which she has made more than 200 teddy bears to console grieving children.

Nominated for the group service award were the National Association of Women in Construction, Logistics Command at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, the Albany Community Hospice Bear Makers and VTC Friendly Visitors, but the winner was the Junior Woman’s Club, whose work with American Cancer Society Lights of Love has raised more than $1 million since 1983.

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