Volunteers at Combined Community Services have given anywhere from several months of their time to 14 years or more. Wednesday evening, CCS honored its “day-to-day” volunteers with a meal and certificates of appreciation. CCS staff prepared the meal themselves. Peggi Lisenbee-Wright, CCS director of client assistance, said the not-for-profit organization initially wanted to honor all of its volunteers, but that would have included more than 117 people and there wasn’t room in the building for a dinner that size. So they decided to first honor day-to-day volunteers, “the ones who keep us running, who help with food, clothing, reception and the on-call volunteers,” she said. In the spring, CCS will then host another celebration for businesses, special events people and organizations that hold food drives. “All of us have wanted to thank our volunteers for years,” she said. “They’ve changed the way we serve. Because they vacuum, unload food trucks, sort donations, we can serve more people individually.” The “Volunteer Celebration” included welcome remarks by Lisenbee-Wright and a prayer by Executive Director Stephen Possell. After the meal, the volunteers were treated to a slideshow of pictures of them working at CCS. Possell then told the volunteers they did a lot of work behind the scenes that he didn’t even know was going on. “You’re the key to our success. We couldn’t do it without our volunteers,” he said. “If we had to pay everyone to do what you do, we couldn’t pay the bills.” He said he’s known many of them for years, and it was nice to see everyone there. “Thank you. I appreciate the help,” he concluded. CCS staff then presented volunteer with a certificate, commenting on each one’s dedication, hard work and sacrifice. Upon receiving her certificate, volunteer Lynn Leslie told the staff, “Yes, we do work, but what you guys do is the Lord’s work.” Not all volunteers were able to attend, but recognized were: Ben Anderson, Nate Behnke, Kelly Bolt, Christine Brockett, Jay Clark, Courtney Clay, Kylee Clay, Betty Conover, Paula Diekhoff, Lucy Eberly, Joyce Evans, Theresa Faulkner, Tabitha Gabbard, Mariah Greenwood, Micaela Greenwood, Kaleb Greenwood, Trey Harris, Jerry Holloway, Margaret Kennedy, Madison Komdeur, Lynn Leslie, Alexis Light, Josh Light, Lacey Lisenbee, Lori Palik, Joyce Paxton, Carol Powell, Deb Vitoux; and Hannah Alber, Jordan Alber, Cailyn Clay, Dick Conover, Nancy Eads, Amy Evans, Shawn Gargis, Lois Gearheart, Bill Greenwood, Bonnie Hackworth, Kerri Henderson, David Owens, Jeff Owens, Lois Scott, Jan Sloan, Kris Stichter, Mallorie Stiver, Pam Tom, Ashlyn Vitoux and Kassidie Wood.
