2009 Volunteer Awards - Celebrating Community Service

The 90th Annual Meeting of the American Red Cross - Moore County Chapter was held on June 24, 2009, at Bonefish Grill.  With heartfelt thanks to the generosity of Bonefish, 80 volunteers and guests enjoyed lunch and a program focused on our mission, key points in our history, and recognition of volunteer service.  Six amateur actresses dressed in Red Cross uniforms from the 1960's (volunteers Carol Dillman, Patricia Murray, OvaJean Siemens, Marilyn Flock, Dev Sessler, and Barbara Ross) regaled the audience with a skit entitled "In the Beginning".

Good neighbor awards were distributed to the following business partners: Belk of Pinecrest Plaza, Bonefish Grill, Embarq Public Affairs Group, Progress Energy, May Street Market, Phillips Motors, Pinehurst Resort, Pinnock Realty, and The Pilot.

Jean Prickett, former Executive Director of the chapter for 25 years, joined Buddy Spong in cutting the 90th birthday cake.

2009 Volunteer Awards

Lea Chandler was named our RSVP volunteer of the year for her 10 years of dedication to disaster services in Moore County, as well as for her  years of service on the chapter board. Lea has served as shelter manager three times when disasters occured in Moore County and when the county emergency operations center requested our assistance in opening a shelter. Lea has chaired the disaster committee and has also been instrumental in training many disaster volunteers in Moore and Richmond County. We are better prepared thanks to her efforts.

Libby Staples received the Blood Services Volunteer of the Year Award for her years of serving as greeter at many Southern Pines blood drives, sponsored by the chapter and by area churches.

Carol Dillman received the Support Services Volunteer of the Year Award. Carol completely dependable, volunteering on a weekly basis as administrative assistant. She flawlessly performs a myriad of tasks in the office. She also has great stories to tell about her experiences deploying with her husband, Bob, to work at Red Cross shelters during national disasters.

Adam Small and Jill Wagner received the Disaster Services Volunteer of the Year Award for 2 years of dedication to the Disaster Action Team in Moore and Richmond counties. Together as Red Cross volunteers, they responded to many fire scenes, often late at night or on weekends, providing victims with food, clothing, shoes and shelter.

Shirley Baldwin and Marty Buss were both honored as Health and Safety Volunteer Instructors. They freely gave of their time and talent to teach CPR, AED, and First Aid skills.

The following people who attended the meeting were direct recipients of Red Cross services and spoke to the heart of the Red Cross mission:

Barbara Blackburn who was grateful for the many units of blood she received during her illness; Nicole Campbell, who contacted the Red Cross to send an emergency message to her husband, deployed in the Armed Forces; Donna Drum-Thomas, whose family lost their home to a fire and received Red Cross emergency relief.