Serious Clydarius Pinchback, a sixth-grader at OT Bonner Danville Middle school, has a dream. He dreams of a world where we “will live in peace and harmony and respect each other” and we “will not have to feel the pain and anguish of war.” Showing wisdom and compassion beyond his 11 years, Serious was awarded the top prize for his submission to a MLK Day Essay Contest as part of a MLK Day Event, January 18, in Danville, presented by the Dan River Year AmeriCorps program. Serious’ essay made a strong argument of how wars could be avoided by working...

Congratulations to Mt. Gileao Full Gospel International Ministries of Chesterfield -- winner of the 2017 Virginia Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Awards for Outstanding Faith-Based Organization! With more than 5,000 members and a volunteer force of more than 800, Mt. Gilead Full Gospel International Ministries is one of the fastest growing congregations in the Richmond area. For the past 20 years, senior pastor Bishop Daniel Roberson, Jr., and his dynamic style of preaching, teaching and motivating has attracted a membership of service-minded individuals with a passion for outreach ministries. Over the past two years, Mt. Gilead has worked to assist...

National Service Award honoree China Tatum always felt the urge to help the at-risk members of her community. Through her tenure as an AmeriCorps VISTA, she has enjoyed the privilege of engaging directly with unhoused individuals through the United Way of Henry County & Martinsville, aligned with the mission of the West Piedmont Better Housing Coalition (WPBHC). China's supervisor at the United Way, Craig McCroskey, recalls, "China jumped right into the role and dug into understanding what the Coalition is and does and the weaknesses we were trying to strengthen. She has balanced the need to push with sensitivity and...

During the height of the pandemic, Abigail, affectionately known as Abby, excelled in creating community in a digital space when many students were cut off from the outside world. Abby served at Aspire Afterschool Learning during the 2020 summer program, the 2020-21 program year ,and the 21- 22 program year as an AmeriCorps State Member. Abby served students in our virtual program during the Covid-19 pandemic by helping them with literacy, math, social-emotional learning, and STEAM-related activities. Abby created and implemented fun activities, helped with homework, and helped make the virtual learning space engaging and supportive. She played an instrumental...

As an honoree on the January 2024 Serve Virginia Honor Roll, Tracy Keller has been an ambassador of girl leadership since her teen years in Girl Scouts. There, she earned the highest award, the Gold Award, for creating and carrying out an elementary educational program on prevention of tobacco use. Now, more than thirty years later and as CEO of the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast since 2005, Tracy continues to facilitate conversations that empower girls and women, and helps shape programs within her community. Recently, Tracy embraced the challenge of volunteering as the lead for the Empowering Girls...

Karen Cullen has served Virginians for many years, professionally through her career in social services and by her prolific lifelong community service efforts. Since 2014, Karen can most often be found serving alongside other volunteers as the Food Pantry Director at Three Chopt Presbyterian Church. Under her leadership, the food pantry has gone from serving 25 families to 3,055 individuals each month. This dramatic increase is a direct result of Karen’s hard work, both in building capacity despite shrinking budgets and increasing need, as well as her commitment to inspire, mobilize, and support an entire community of volunteers. Karen’s innovative...