Volunteer of the Year selected- Others recognized in various categories

Priscilla Downs (right) was named Volunteer of the Year recently. Shown presenting her the award is Sheila Cain. Pat Nanney Photo.

Priscilla Downs, past president of Habitat for Humanity, who volunteers in several different capacities donating at least 10 hours a week, was selected as the Volunteer of the Year at the Volunteer Rutherford annual banquet held recently.

As the honoree, a check for $1,000 was presented to Habitat for Humanity in her honor by United Way of Rutherford County. The certificate was presented by Sheila Cain, family coordinator for Habitat.

Volunteers in four categories will be sent for state volunteer recognition.

The youth volunteer award recipient was Ashley Wilson who serves with the Hopeworks program of Blue Ridge Hope; Brenda Parry and Josie Peters, the team volunteers who work at the Habitat ReStore; Senior volunteer Lonnie Lewis who helps with the New Beginnings Soup Kitchen and Pricilla Downs, the adult volunteer.

Kim Freeman, President of Volunteer Rutherford, welcomed guests and thanked the Rutherford County Senior Center for hosting the event. This is the first time it has been held in person in three years. Nell Bovender, retired executive director of Rutherford Housing Partnership, cited the contributions of each nominee. She pointed out that an estimated 23 percent of Americans volunteer in some capacity amounting to an estimated 4.1 billion hours in 2021 with an economic value of almost $123 billion.

Other nominees were: Jackie Lynch, McNair Education Foundation, Kisha McDowell, LEAP Program, Danita Oliver, Source Outreach Center, Alexis Perejda, Guardian Ad Litem, and Pete Link, Habitat Construction Crew.

Entertainment for the evening was provided by the Rutherford Life Services Choir and R.J. Cooper who delighted the audience with a series of detective jokes and puns.