Over 24,000 service hours, RIFA holds volunteer appreciation event
JACKSON, Tenn. — RIFA hosted its annual volunteer appreciation event this morning.
Presented by Cadence Bank and Love & Truth Church, the event was hosted at Baker Bros. BBQ.
The annual event is hosted to thank RIFA’s volunteers and recognize them for their dedication to the organization in the fight against hunger in our community.
A highlight of the event was recognizing some of the most dedicated volunteers of RIFA over the past year.
The 2024 volunteer award winners, recognized for their service in 2023, were announced at the event.
The award recipients are as follows:
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Ann Tafoya
- David Hallock Award (Volunteer of the Year): Denise Dyer
- Rev. Don Daniels Servant’s Heart Award (Soup Kitchen Award): Sarah Gibson
- Driving Force Award: RJ Field
- Team Impact Award: Tennessee College of Applied Technology
- Thrift Store Award: The Crew (Tammy Hurst, Sandra Magee, Hanne Mallard,
Cindy Rubin, and Ann Tafoya) - Special Projects Award: BlueCross BlueShield
- Senior Staples Award: Jim & Carol Wallace
- Board Member of the Year: Mandy White
- Warehouse Award: Rebecca Young
- Pickup Driver Award: Raul Dominguez
- Snack Backpack Award: Lauren “LOLO” Cobb
- RIFA Rockstars: Heather Button, Jaida Ingram, and Ashley Drown
Senior Warehouse Manager for RIFA, Thomas Brown Jr., also expressed gratitude at the event.
“Over 24 thousand hours this year has been logged. That’s from people in this community. That’s from people that stay outside of Jackson, some people travel in. We just want to tell them thank you for coming and giving us all of that, because there is no way we could do over 500 thousand meals without their help,” said Brown Jr.
These service hours were through RIFA’s ministries including the soup kitchen, snack backpack, senior staples, thrift store, and many more.
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