When Brett Reynolds stepped up to the podium at the Volunteers in Action annual awards reception Tuesday night, he could understand the amazing event that Anne Rush, 2002 Volunteer of the Year, had spoken about earlier in the evening. Last year, everyone saw a miracle, Rush told the nearly 100 people who gathered at State Street United Methodist Church for the event during her welcome address about how she felt about being honored last year. I was speechless.Reynolds, an attorney for English, Lucas Priest and Owsley, said he, too, was at a loss for words when he heard his name announced as 2003 Volunteer of the Year. I don’t think anybody does this for a reward, he said. I truly enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, then it would be easy not to do it. Reynolds is a Big Brother and board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southcentral Kentucky, co-chairman of Leadership Bowling Green, coaches youth baseball at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green, works with the United Way of Southern Kentucky, helps with the Chamber of Commerce’s Golf Challenge and is a member of the Public Theatre of Kentucky Board and the Western Kentucky University Libraries Advisory Council.(Volunteering) is making an impact on me, he said. Its an awesome thing that I get so much out of it. I think everyone in here is just as deserving (of the award). Reynolds said his favorite thing about volunteering is his Little Brother, 11-year-old Troy Halcomb. They spend time together volunteering, talking about careers and just doing general guy things.Hes the best kid, he said. We throw baseballs, go to games and go to dinner. We went to the Nashville Zoo last summer. As it gets warmer, it will be easier to find things to do. We may go to Kentucky Kingdom this summer.Susan McCue, executive director of Operation P.R.I.D.E. and guest speaker for the awards reception, said volunteers do wonderful work.Lord, bless these people for what they do for others. Amen, she said.
Other nominees for 2003 and the organizations that nominated them include the following:
Myrna Neff, Alpha Theta chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International; Vera G. Guthrie, Altrusa International of Bowling Green; Dorothy Forte, Barren River Long Term Care ombudsman; Bill Smith, Barren River Imaginative Museum of Science; Melanie Kington, Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce; Edwin Phelps, Bowling Green Area Microcomputer User Group; Jerry Wells, Bowling Green-Warren County Community Education; Anne Grubbs, Bowling Green Womans Club and Bowling Green Kiwanis Club; Andrew Tate, Capitol Arts Alliance; Carole Smock, The Cardinals of Kentucky chapter of the American Business Womens Association; Ruth Ann Bowen, Commonwealth Health Free Clinic; Fred Sass, Community Action of Southern Kentucky, Foster Grandparents; Sherry L. Ledbetter, Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana; Norma Holland, Hope Harbor; Wayne Orscheln, Longview Fibre Company, Junior Achievement of Southern Kentucky; Sybil Klovski, The Medical Center at Bowling Green; Elizabeth Whitaker, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill/Bowling Green; Craig E. Browning, United Way of Southern Kentucky; and Wanda Dodson, Warren County Cooperative Extension Office 4-H.Doug Eberhart, president of the United Way of Southern Kentucky, received the Volunteers in Actions President Award.
Carmichael, Alicia (2003, April). Reynolds named Volunteer of Year. Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.bgdailynews.com/reynolds-named-volunteer-of-year/article_e8d087eb-4433-5f4a-b8b6-22087f65cfd4.html