Red Cross honors volunteers
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 9, 2017 7:14 AM
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News-Argus/ETHAN SMITH
Students from Goldsboro High School are recognized for saving 306 lives through donating blood during blood drives held at their school throughout the year.
There was a lot of talk about numbers at the annual American Red Cross Recognition Event Thursday evening.
It is the Wayne/Greene County Chapter's 100th anniversary this year.
Regional Business Operations Officer Kimberly Berrier ran through a long timeline of events, denoting each year something significant happened in the organization or county.
Students from local high schools were recognized for donating enough blood to save hundreds of lives.
But only one number really mattered: one.
That's because, Berrier said, it only takes one person to decide to volunteer for the organization and make the decision to save lives.
And that was the message at Thursday evening's recognition event, held at First Baptist Church on South John Street in downtown Goldsboro.
The event got underway by recognizing outstanding students who had participated in blood drives at their respective high schools throughout the school year.
Those students who were recognized were:
* Thamina Awawdeh, Charles B. Aycock High School.
* Vanessa Reser, Charles B. Aycock High School.
* Michaeal Thompson, Charles B. Aycock High School.
* Anna Wall, Charles B. Aycock High School.
* Bridget Windham, Charles B. Aycock High School.
* Mary Ella Spengler, Eastern Wayne High School.
* Chase Bossert, Eastern Wayne High School.
* Katherine Corbett, Eastern Wayne High School.
* Jacob Owens, Goldsboro High School.
* Jaiel Ashford, Goldsboro High School.
* Eymonie Atkinson, Goldsboro High School.
* Araselys Cash, Goldsboro High School.
* Mya McIntyre, Goldsboro High School.
* Precious Grant, Goldsboro High School.
* Shamayah Revis, Rosewood High School.
* Mary Beth Rhodes, Rosewood High School.
* Taylor Grider, Rosewood High School.
* Janelle Abad, Rosewood High School.
* Taylor Bragg, Rosewood High School.
* Amber Game, Southern Wayne High School.
* Tiarra Parker, Southern Wayne High School.
* Cathryn Jones, Southern Wayne High School.
* Chris Daly, Southern Wayne High School.
* Noah Summerlin, Southern Wayne High School.
* Hayleigh Stocks, Southern Wayne High School.
* Lina Hamdan, Spring Creek High School.
* Rubelsy Soto, Spring Creek High School.
* Azaneth Rodriguez, Spring Creek High School.
* Selena Reyes, Spring Creek High School.
* Lizayra Avilez, Spring Creek High School.
These students were all recognized for their participation in blood drives that saved hundreds of lives.
At Charles B. Aycock High School, students donated enough blood to save 780 lives; Rosewood High School students donated enough to save 579 lives; Spring Creek High School students donated enough to save 501 lives; Southern Wayne High School students donated enough to save 357 lives; Goldsboro High School students donated enough to save 306 lives; and Eastern Wayne High School students donated enough to save 267 lives.
From there, the organization moved on to recognizing individuals who had achieved various milestones in the organization, or who stepped up to the plate during one of the worst tragedies in Wayne County's history -- Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
The Mount Olive Police Department was recognized for its service during the disaster when they helped citizens south of the Neuse River while the Red Cross was blocked from accessing the southern part of the county.
United Way of Wayne County was also recognized for their efforts during the hurricane.
Norman Hunt received the Blood Services Support Award; Lisa Cornejo got the Disaster Services Award; Kathryn Page was bestowed the Service to the Armed Forces Award; and Jerry Phillips was given the Volunteer Leadership Award.
Peter Halaka received the Governor's Award for Volunteer Service for all he has done for the organization during his years volunteering.
The ceremony finished shortly after officers announced several people were recognized for receiving the President's Volunteer Service Award.
There are three tiers -- Bronze, Silver and Gold. Recipients of the Gold award have given the most hours of service out of the three tiers.
Those people were:
* Stephanie Strickland, Bronze.
* Stephen Strickland, Bronze.
* Louis Sparks, Bronze.
* Holly Rieken, Bronze.
* Peggy Renfroe, Bronze.
* Lester Radford, Bronze.
* Jerry Phillips, Silver.
* Kathryn Page, Silver.
* Caitlin McGraw, Silver.
* Patricia King, Silver.
* Cindy Umstead, Silver.
* Kaitlyn Hoff, Silver.
* Billy Parker, Gold.
* Ralph Grover, Gold.
* Courtney Goodson, Gold.
* Robert Goodson, Gold.
* Lisa Cornejo, Gold.