By John Bailey
Catawba County United Way
Dependable.
Compassionate.
Encouraging.
A Mentor. An Advocate. A Friend.
These are just a few ways the group of nominees for the 2024 Giving From the Heart (GFH) Volunteer Awards were described at the annual event hosted by the Catawba County United Way (CCUW) on Tuesday.
The luncheon is an opportunity to recognize the selfless work so many across the county do every day for those in need. It is also a chance to recognize this year’s NC Governor’s Volunteer Award recipients from Catawba County.
As further recognition for the GFH volunteers, Piedmont Natural Gas donated $500 to the nonprofit of each category winner’s (individual, group, youth) choice.
This year those winners were:
Individual – Jason Keating, volunteer at Walk with Me Healing Steps.
Group – Dana and Josiah Florez, volunteers at NC Cooperative Extension 4-H.
Youth – Luke Wilkinson, volunteer at The Corner Table.
For Jason Keating, the ‘why’ for being a volunteer is simple, to be able to help the next person. He started at Walk With Me Healing Steps as a client and is now training to get certifications so he can pay the help he received forward.
“I had issues I was working through as a veteran,” Keating said. “Traditional therapy wasn’t working and then I found the farm and after seven months of the (equine) therapy, I thought to myself, ‘alright what do I have to do to give back and help the next person…hopefully help the next veteran not stumble the way I did’.”
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