Two individuals and one group received special honors at Rowan Helping Ministries’ annual volunteer recognition banquet held March 18 at Livingstone College.
Sally Morgan was honored for her efforts on the Rowan Helping Ministries West Mt. Ulla Task Force through St. Luke’ Lutheran Church, where she is a member. Her commitment to the vision of a Satellite Food Pantry assisted in making this dream a reality.
David Scott, a junior at North Rowan High School, was also honored for volunteering a total of 323 hours since April of 2006.
The Faith Civitan Club was the group recipient, honored for its participation with the Rowan/Arc Festival of Trees fundraiser. Rowan Helping Ministries’ tree was sponsored by the city of Salisbury and decorated by the Faith Civitans with socks.
Club members collected 1,500 pairs of new socks, and on each day the tree was in the Rowan Helping Ministries’ lobby, clients were allowed to take a pair from the tree.
A total of 275 volunteers and donors attended the banquet, which was hosted by the faculty of Livingstone College in the new Trent Gym. Guests were entertained before and during dinner by the college’s Jazz Band.
The evening program also consisted of Volunteer presentations and recognitions. Joyce Simmons, one of the presenters who volunteers in the Soup Kitchen every Thursday with Neel Road Baptist Church, spoke of the lost of her husband in 1970. She was a single parent raising two small sons with no immediate family within 500 miles.There were people who would helped her along the way; in return by serving at RHM, she feels a connection to the people who come to eat at the Soup Kitchen.
Bobbie Torain shared an experience at Rowan Helping Ministries as “priceless” in our Crisis Assistance Network. She interviewed an old friend who had gotten on drugs and lost more than 80 pounds. They discussed that it was not too late to make a change, and she left saying she would try to make that first step. Food Pantry volunteer, Ernest Casey, a retired veteran, volunteers to give back to those less fortunate. Johnnie Leach, a shelter volunteer with Soldiers Memorial, shared the experience back when the shelter rotated among the churches in the winter months.