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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda -11-06-2008 - 3aORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 6, 2008 Action Agenda Item No. 3a SUBJECT: North Carolina Governor's Awards and Orange County Volunteer Reco nition DEPARTMENT: Aging PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: List of County Recipients of the N.C. Jerry Passmore, 245-2000 Governor's Volunteer Award Kathy Porter, 968-2054 PURPOSE: To recognize the North Carolina Governor's Volunteer Award Recipients from Orange County. BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Governor's Volunteer Award Program has existed since 1979. This award program showcases North Carolina's most outstanding volunteers across the state. Each North Carolina county selects five individuals, businesses, and/or groups to be recognized for their outstanding contributions to their communities. One of the five recipients is also nominated to receive the NC Outstanding Volunteer Medallion and represents Orange County at the Governor's presentation luncheon. The Department on Aging Director and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Division administered Orange County's awards process for outstanding volunteers for 2008. During the summer, nominations for the awards were advertised and fifteen nominations were received. A panel of judges picked the finalists and nominated one of them for the Medallion Award. This information was forwarded to the Governor's Office for its final selection of the top 20 outstanding volunteers in North Carolina. The Board will recognize the five Governor's Award winners with the reading of a short biography for each regarding their volunteer service. Each winner will be presented with the N.C. Volunteer Award certificate, a congratulatory letter signed by the Governor, and an Outstanding Volunteer recognition pin. The Clerk's Office will update Orange County's "Governor's Volunteer Awards" plaques which are displayed in both southern and northern Orange County throughout the year with the 2008 winners' names. This year's winners in alphabetical order and including their nominating organization are: Sue Battle, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools -Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Debbie Finn, Orange County Rape Crisis Center Orange County Hummingbirds 4-H Club Lee Pavao, Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Patricia Taylor, UNC Hospice The Orange County Medallion Award nominee for 2008 is Lee Pavao. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The Department on Aging's budget covered the administration of the Governor's Volunteer Awards local nomination and selection process. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board recognize the North Carolina Governor's Volunteer Award Recipients from Orange County. 0 North Carolina Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service Orange County Recipients for 2008 Each year Orange County recognizes its most outstanding Community volunteers. The process began in the summer when nomination forms are sent to non-profit and governmental human services agencies in Orange County and information sent to the media. Agencies are asked to nominate an Individual, Group or Business for their outstanding service. Fifteen nominees were received. A panel of judges picked the five finalists including one as the Medallion Award nominee representing Orange County in Governor's Office selection of the top 20 outstanding volunteers in North Carolina. Each County recipient will receive a N.C. Volunteer Award certificate, a congratulation letter signed by the Governor and an Outstanding Volunteer recognition pin. In addition, Orange County Commissioners have created a local "Governor's Volunteer Awards" plaque that displays each year's winners. The 2008 winners in alphabetical order including their nominating organization or individual are as follows: Sue Battle (Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools-Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate) Sue Battle is indeed a Mentor for Mentors, contributing over ten years of community service in Orange County. Sue was nominated by the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Schools Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Program. She is commended for her patience and keen ability to read between the lines in order to bridge the sixty-year gap between her and the children she has taken under her wing. As a mentor, she provided shelter from family violence for one child and guided another to explore the arts and sciences that led to travels in Africa and the pursuit of a college education. The positive impact of Sue's efforts has encouraged life changes for children to grow and prosper. The average length of a mentoring relationship in the United States is 9 months. Sue Battle's 10 years of mentoring (9 with one child) has provided an exemplary model for the families, our community and our state. Orange County and the state of North Carolina greatly appreciate her selfless acts of kindness and present this award for outstanding community service. Debbie Finn (Orange County Rape Crisis Center) For 34 years... 34 years. Debbie Finn has humbly worked for this community moving from one need to another, going where she could best serve. The first 24 years were dedicated to the Chapel Hill- Carrboro School System, lending her expertise in education to hundreds of children. Here she focused on reading and language as a tutor, a reading partner and then a testing administrator at Seawell School. For the last ten years her strength and compassion has been given to the Rape Crisis Center of Orange County, beginning with sixty hours of training which stood her in good stead as crisis counselor. Additionally she served on the Board of directors and most recently as office volunteer. Debbie has also given her time to Dress for Success to assist the unemployed, the Board of Adjustment for the Town of Chapel Hill and Board of the Chamber Orchestra for the triangle. Debbie is a beacon 0 for volunteerism and a most deserving recipient of the North Carolina Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Orange County Hummingbirds 4-H Club (Wendy Burgess) Thanks to the Orange County Hummingbirds 4-H Club and the many youths who have served the Orange County community for the past 15 years as volunteers in the Club. The dedication of this group is apparent through the wide range of good works performed by the children and their families to help make life better for those most in need (to name a few: blood drives, adopt-a-highway, visits to shut-ins and nursing home residents to share a song or make a craft, and delivery of emergency food boxes). Even the most basic human needs can become a crisis if not addressed. Orange County and the state of North Carolina greatly appreciate the many acts of kindness performed by the Hummingbirds 4-H Club and honor the Club for its outstanding community service. Lee Pavao County's Medallion Award Nominee (Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau) Lee Pavao has contributed over twenty-five years of community service in Orange County. As a Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau board member for the last eleven years (7 years as Chair of the board), Lee has helped build and improve the economic health of Orange County. He has applied his leadership skills along with his artistic talents and business experience to help others succeed and the community prosper. It is apparent through his community contributions to the Bureau and the many other non-profit agencies for which he has served that he has made a lifetime commitment to assist those in need (some of the other agencies are the Chapel Hill Town Council, Library and Museum; the Ronald McDonald House; Planned Parenthood; the UNC Childhood Trust; and the Friends of the Seymour Center). Orange County and the state of North Carolina greatly appreciate his selfless acts and consider it an honor to have Lee as a resident and the County's Medallion Award nominee and its outstanding community service volunteer. Pat Taylor (iJNC Hospice) Pat Taylor has provided over five years of community service in Orange County through the UNC Hospice Program. She is commended for her patience, keen sensitivity and ability to identify needs and take appropriate action to assist caregivers and families facing the impending death of a loved one. Her willingness to go the extra mile working with a difficult patient or distressed family has turned many crisis situations into manageable situations for all involved. Pat is known to give whatever it takes, volunteering from four to forty-eight hours a week. She is also known never to cower when facing an ominous challenge but to roll up her sleeves and dive into unknown territory in order to help relieve the suffering of others. Orange County and the state of North Carolina greatly appreciate Pat Taylor's selfless acts of kindness and honor her for outstanding community service.