Charleston’s Gateway to the Delta Festival committee received an honorable mention nod for the Innovation in Volunteerism Award, one of the 2024 Governor’s Initiative for Volunteer Excellence (GIVE) Awards being presented April 18 in Jackson.
The awards program is presented by Volunteer Mississippi, in partnership with the Governor’s Office.
Big House Books of Jackson won this year’s Innovation in Volunteerism Award, one of 10 GIVE Awards categories.
Dana Clolinger, executive director of the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort, nominated the Gateway committee “because I feel they actually volunteer twice.”
“They volunteer as members of the CARE Board of Directors and also on the festival committee,” she said. “They begin in March with planning meetings and continue working until the morning after the festival. They always arrive bright and early the morning of Gateway very excited and with a smile on their face. CARE would not be able to have our festival, which is our largest fundraiser of the year, without this group of individuals and the time that they dedicate to us.”
Clolinger said the Gateway committee demonstrates innovation in volunteering by continually working to find new ways to improve the quality of the event and to attract volunteers to help with the festival.
“An example would be working with the Meek Foundation scholars, CHS Honor Society students and Holmes Community College students, who volunteered in 2023 to impress upon young adults the importance of volunteering in your community and to hopefully plant the seed of how much fun it can be.”
Gateway committee members are Meg Sinervo, Beverly Taylor, Patsy Simmons, Lisa Wolfe, Connie Greer, John Ball Burnett, Jessica Strider, Ray Clolinger, Krista McFerrin, Alisha Pittman and Mayor Sedrick Smith Sr.
