Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has named Doug Monaco of Prince William County as Volunteer Fire Fighter of the Year. Monaco is one of several recipients of the 2020 Governor’s Fire Service Awards, who were recognized at an awards ceremony last month.  Chief Monaco, with the Little Fork Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, has dedicated the past 48 years of his life to Virginia volunteer and professional fire and rescue services. This includes service both in volunteer companies and a 32-year career as a paid member of the Prince William County Fire and Rescue system where he retired at the rank...

Congratulations to Dr. Lawrence Fleenor of Big Stone Gap - winner of the 2019 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Senior Volunteer!  Dr. Fleenor has taken his love for and dedication to the history of Southwest Virginia and turned it into a remarkable way to serve his community. A tireless advocate and volunteer for the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park, he has volunteered more than 5,550 hours. Additionally, Dr. Fleenor volunteers as historian at Natural Tunnel State Park and the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association. He led the work to create the Southwest Virginia Museum's historical bus...

AmeriCorps member Claudia Ramirez Cuéllar currently serves at Aspire Afterschool Learning as the Parent Coordinator in the AmeriCorps Learning Links program. In her role, Claudia connects with the parents of Aspire students to share student progress, successes, and challenges. She greets parents as they pick up their students and communicates regularly through phone calls and text messages. She also organizes monthly talks for parents on relevant topics, such as how to read report cards, how parent-teacher conferences work, keeping children safe on the internet, and advice surrounding mental health for the parents and children. As a result of her proactive...

Congratulations to Codefy of McLean - winner of the 2021 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Education Organization! The vast majority of computer programmers across the globe are male. Seeing a lack of computer programming courses in their own school, one determined group of female students in Northern Virginia decided to work to change that statistic in their own community. The students created Codefy, an organization providing free computer programming courses to middle and high school students. In just two years, the organization has grown to include more than 600 volunteers and more than 10 courses reflecting a...

Congratulations to Spring Hill Baptist Church of Blackstone - winner of the 2018 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Faith-Based Organization! Spring Hill Baptist Church is clearly a force for good in the small community of Blackstone. Their 300 members are providing countless concrete supports and, just as importantly, building bridges for better community relations. Spring Hill members can be found distributing food to the needy, holding tutoring programs for students, providing activities for senior citizens, and visiting shut-ins. Spring Hill organizes community-wide worship services, food and school supply drives, job fairs, a community clothes closet, Christmas donation programs, and much...

Congratulations to Cathie Cummins of Union Hall - winner of the 2018 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Senior Volunteer!As a pediatric physical therapist for more than 30 years, Cathie Cummins has seen firsthand the needs that exist in the community for assistive equipment for children with disabilities. Recognizing that resources were limited and adaptive equipment was too expensive for many families, Cathie began adaptive equipment loan programs in both Northern and Southwest Virginia. After identifying a successful model and a statewide need, Cathy started Children’s Assistive Technology Service (CATS) which provides for the re-use of pediatric rehabilitation equipment...