The American Red Cross of Georgia recently honored local Northwest Georgia volunteers at a ‘virtual awards event’.

The annual event is usually held in person and hosted by the eight Red Cross chapters in Georgia but was streamed online this year as a statewide celebration due to COVID-19.

“Our volunteers are crucial to our mission,” said Jennifer Pipa, CEO of the American Red Cross of Georgia. “It’s so important that we thank them and recognize their contributions to our organization and those we serve, even if that looks a little different this year.”

The event recognized the 4,229 registered Red Cross volunteers in Georgia, and the 374,102 hours they served in fiscal year 2020. Their donated time, valued at twenty-five dollars per hour, equates to an amazing 9.7 million dollars in services that helped prevent and alleviate human suffering in local communities.

The following Northwest Georgia chapter volunteers and partners, nominated by their peers, were honored for their outstanding contributions:

American Red Cross of Northwest Georgia Volunteer Honorees

Board Leadership Award: Addison (Add) Layson

Recognizes a board member who has provided significant and outstanding service on the Red Cross Board of Directors, contributing to the success of the local chapter.

Disaster Action Team Member of the Year: Heather Spraggins

Presented to a Disaster Action Team (DAT) member who has gone above and beyond when called to respond in the past year and shown standout performance in willingness to serve clients.

Disaster Recovery Award: Dayna Logan

Presented to a two-plus year volunteer who shows exceptional initiative in identifying and/or meeting the Disaster Cycle Service Recovery mission. Recipient demonstrates skills for recruiting, motivating and coordinating others in support of Red Cross casework and displays cultural awareness, sensitivity and creativity in reaching diverse groups.

Disaster Response Award: Jeff Ringstrom

Presented to a two-plus year volunteer who demonstrates exceptional initiative in identifying and/or meeting the Disaster Cycle Service Response mission. Recipient helps maintain Red Cross readiness by skillfully recruiting, motivating, and coordinating a sufficient number of employees, volunteers and groups reflective of the community as disaster responders, and demonstrates cultural awareness, sensitivity and creativity in reaching diverse audiences.

Good Neighbor Award: Milan Patel ‘Super 8 Chatsworth’

Recognizes an organization that has partnered with the Red Cross to raise awareness of the Red Cross mission and expand the scope of communities the Red Cross is able to serve.

Rookie of the Year Award: Harriet Schaefer

Recognizes a new volunteer who has shown outstanding performance in their volunteer role during their first year.

Service to the Armed Forces Award: April Whatley

Presented to a volunteer who demonstrates innovative and extraordinary efforts in meeting the needs of Red Cross Armed Forces customers served at the local, national or international level. Recipient’s performance and collaboration reflects positively on the Red Cross, heightens the commitment of others to the Service to the Armed Forces program and advances the organization’s goals for diversity.

Exceptional Volunteer Service Award: Betty Ford

Demonstrated exceptional performance and extensive personal commitment to specific service or project that has contributed to the improvement or expansion of Red Cross services to the community.

Volunteer Leadership Award: Debbye Blalock

Presented to a volunteer who has sustained outstanding leadership for a number of years while meeting increasingly challenging responsibilities and advancing the organization’s goal of achieving the total diversity of our people, programs, and services.

Volunteer Services Award: Elizabeth Davis

Presented to a volunteer with exceptional skills in recruiting, motivating, and/or coordinating employees, volunteers or groups in enough numbers to support Red Cross readiness while helping to ensure that our workforce is growing more reflective of the communities it serves.

Volunteer Leadership Award Certificates have also been awarded to:

Weyland Billingsley, Bill Leiper, Richard Morrow, Fred Rife, John Schickinger, and Scott Ballintyne.

More volunteers are always needed to carry out the Red Cross mission. Anyone interested in becoming a Red Cross Volunteer can visit redcross.org to learn more about volunteer opportunities and how to submit a volunteer application.

About the American Red Cross: The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cr