Joe Walters of Winnsboro and Ellen Doerner of Loomis, Calif., received 2005 National 4-H Salute to Excellence Volunteer Recognition Awards. Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO for National 4-H Council, and Ronald Bumb, area sales manager for Monsanto Company and a former 4-H member, presented the awards at the 75th National 4-H Conference.
Joe Walters received the 2005 National 4-H Salute to Excellence Lifetime Volunteer Award, given to an individual who has spent 10 or more years volunteering for 4-H. Joe was thankful for his award, but he knows the award is not the reason he works with 4-H young people. “When I reflect on my reason for all these years of youth work, I can say with all truthfulness that it is not the acclaim of others, it is the appreciation from a former 4-H’er whose life has taken a positive turn due to some of my efforts,” Walters said.
IWalters has touched the lives of tens of thousands of young people during his 33 years as a volunteer leader for the Louisiana 4-H program. Walters helped pioneer the 4-H Shooting Sports program in multiple Louisiana parishes, worked with others to found the Wild Woods Wanderings environmental 4-H youth education program for Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, and is now working with other volunteer leaders in Louisiana to pilot the 4-H ATV Safety Program.
Each year, state 4-H programs are invited to nominate two outstanding individual volunteers for the National 4-H Salute to Excellence Volunteer Awards Recognition Program. Gene and Sharon Swackhamer created the National 4-H Salute to Excellence Volunteer Recognition Award Program to emphasize the important work of 4-H volunteers across America. The awards are made possible through the National 4-H Salute to Excellence Volunteer Recognition Fund and Monsanto Company, the program’s national presenting sponsor.
To nominate a 4-H volunteer for the 2006 Salute to Excellence Volunteer Recognition Awards Program, contact Karen Blaney at (301) 961-2819 or kblaney@fourhcouncil.edu, or visit www.fourhcouncil.edu/STE.aspx.