CHARLESTON, W.VA. – In 2008, a small nonprofit organization provided Wirt County families with clothing, toiletries, cleaning items, and more than 15,000 pounds of food. This year, that small nonprofit organization is receiving the most prestigious volunteer award in West Virginia.
On Wednesday, July 15, Governor Joe Manchin will honor The Hope Shop for its tireless dedication to service at the annual Governor’s Service Awards banquet at the Charleston Civic Center. The banquet is held as a part of Faces of Leadership, the annual state volunteerism conference.
Presented since 1995, the Governor’s Service Awards honors youth, young adults, adults, seniors, families, organizations, national service members and businesses who exemplify outstanding dedication to volunteerism and community service in West Virginia. The Hope Shop will receive the award in the organization category.
Founded nearly 30 years ago by the Wirt County Ministerial Association, The Hope Shop raises funds and collects food that stocks a food pantry that serves the county. The “Hope” within the organization’s name stands for “Helping Other People Everywhere.”
Revenues from the organization’s thrift store provide the main source of income for the food pantry, which is almost entirely volunteer-operated and turns no one away. Last year, the organization’s 23 volunteers dedicated more than 5,300 hours of their time to thrift store and food pantry operations. Other sources of income for the food pantry include donations and fundraisers such as hot dog sales in the community.
The Governor’s Service Awards are administered by Volunteer West Virginia, the state’s Commission for National and Community Service, to honor outstanding individuals, organizations and businesses solving community problems through volunteer service. A panel of volunteer judges, including past awardees, choose the recipients on the basis of achievement, community needs, continuing involvement, innovation and impact of service.
Other recipients of the 2009 Governor’s Service Awards include, by category:
- Lifetime Achievement: Karen Betler, Harrison County; Vivian Crane, Greenbrier County
- Youth: Jonathan Ross and Anastacia Meadows both of Cabell County
- Adult: Annette Fetty-Santilli, Barbour County
- Senior: Raymond Shaw, Harrison County; Betty Russell, Berkeley County
- National Service: Ruth Pepper, Jackson County
- Organization: The Shepherd’s Center of Greenbrier Valley, Greenbrier County; Generation Charleston, Kanawha County
- Business: Beckley Newspaper – the Register-Herald, Raleigh County
For tickets to the awards banquet, or information about the conference, contact Moya Doneghy at (304) 558-0111 or 1-800-WV-HELPS, or by email at moya.doneghy@wv.gov.
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