Congratulations to Dana Dougherty of Arlington - winner of the 2018 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Adult Volunteer! Dana Dougherty’s passion for healthy living is getting children and families moving in Arlington! Dana began her quest at Oakridge Elementary, an urban school also known as an “international neighborhood school” with a population speaking more than 40 languages. Here she spends countless hours creating and running an “all are welcome” morning fitness program and family fitness nights. Dana also realized the need for students to have “movement breaks” throughout the day in order to refocus on learning. She created 2Fit2Quit,...

As a recent high school graduate and 2024 Governor's Volunteerism & Community Service Award honoree, Ashley Coulson has been a dedicated volunteer in Y Street, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth's youth-led statewide initiative, where she served 115 service hours in the past year. She helped lead the program's Share the Air campaign, working towards tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free parks, playgrounds, beaches, and trails across the Commonwealth. Her service included organizing booths at community events, gauging Virginians' attitudes toward tobacco-free outdoor policies, and meeting with elected officials and community leaders. Ashley also served on the Y Street Leadership Team for three consecutive...

“I have always been drawn to public service,” reflects Rumana Chattopadhyay-Reid, who started volunteering as a teenager in West Bengal, India. She regularly volunteered for 4-5 hours each weekend in a neonatal care facility while completing her bachelor’s degree. After moving to South India for graduate school, she met the man who would become her husband, an American student who was studying abroad. Together, they moved to the United States, where Rumana began teaching at a reservation school and the couple started a family.   Then, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and changed everything. Rumana became a stay-at-home mother, working to ensure that...

Thanks to his lifelong commitment to service, Virginia AmeriCorps member Chris Sandquist is a recipient of the Harris Wofford Joint Service Award, honoring individuals who have successfully completed both a full-time service term or its equivalent in AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.   Chris grew up in Waynesboro, Virginia, before moving to Maine for college and then spending two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia, North Africa, where he taught English as a Foreign Language to businesspeople and college students at the Tunisian National Institute of Modern Languages. He recalls, "Joining the Peace Corps after college was a...

In her retirement, Barbara Johnson found herself with too much time on her hands, so she turned to AARP to help her find a way to get involved with her community. They connected her with the VCU Head Start program in Richmond Public Schools, where retired seniors are trained to become teacher’s aides. She loved the opportunity to learn while supporting youth, but the program limited her to a four-year contract. When that time ended, Barbara took the advice of some of the teachers she’d been working with, who recommended she get involved in the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program at Senior Connections.  ...

Congratulations to Tommy & Jimmy Davis of Mechanicsville - winner of the 2018 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Volunteer Family! For more than 15 years, brothers Tommy and Jimmy Davis dedicated their time and talents to providing much needed home repairs and re-building efforts to individuals and families in need. It was Tommy who first became dedicated to home repair outreach when on a mission trip to Romania. Later, he recruited his younger brother Jimmy to help with disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina. The brothers would later commit their lives to service through Resurrection Disaster Relief, a home repair...