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Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Awards

The Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Awards are presented by the Governor's Advisory Board on National and Community Service and the Office on Volunteerism and Community Service on behalf of the Office of the Governor. These awards recognize the significant contributions of Virginia citizens to the life and welfare of the Commonwealth and its people. The awards will be presented during the month of April to recognize these exceptional contributions.

2010 Award Recipients

Complete summaries of this year's recipients. Photo gallery.

Adult Volunteer
Douglas Schiffman, Sperryville
Schiffman created a money-management program for low-income senior citizens and people with disabilities that is now designated by the Social Security Administration as an organizational Representative Payee and is sponsored at a national level by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Business
Martinsville Family Pharmacy, Martinsville
As the owner of Martinsville Family Pharmacy, Tony Pratt regularly sees patrons who cannot afford their medications. In response, he developed a prescription assistance program to meet the needs of low-income residents in the area.

Community Organization
Ramp Access Made Possible by Students (R.A.M.P.S.), Richmond
In the past five years, more than 200 student volunteers from 21 high schools and colleges have donated nearly 2,000 hours to increasing access and the quality of life for the disabled; volunteers assemble modular ramps for seniors and people with disabilities who rely on a wheelchair or walker for mobility, but cannot afford a ramp to get them safely in and out of their homes.

Educational Institution
Kappa Pi Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Williamsburg
For the brothers of the Kappa Pi Chapter, Saturday morning means an alarm clock and three hours of intense tutoring, monitoring and caring for dozens of Toano Middle School students through the "Rites of Passage" program. They serve as role models to young male students who may otherwise miss out on such guidance; as a result, the middle school students' grades and self-esteem have improved.

Family
Phillip R. and Barbara F. Custis, Nassawadox
After their nine-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver, the Custis family used the little boy's love of baseball to establish a 31-acre sports complex that benefits hundreds of Eastern Shore children and families each year.

Senior Volunteer
James O’Neill Shaw, Jr., MD, Williamsburg
Dr. Shaw started a once-weekly program for low-income patients in a borrowed church space and turned it into Lackey Free Clinic, a full-time comprehensive practice in a state-of-the-art facility with 115 medical practitioners and 200 other volunteers that last year resulted in 17,000 hours of volunteer service and 9,000 visits for uninsured, underserved patients.

Youth Volunteer
Inesha Premaratne, Richmond
Premaratne is a 16-year-old student at Henrico High School and founder of the club, "Roots Before Branches;" she took an empty, ugly, unused piece of land on the school campus and created a garden that has donated more than 31 pounds of fresh produce to the Central Virginia Food Bank.

Selection Criteria

Recipients of the Governor's Community Service and Volunteerism Awards exemplify the following characteristics:

  • Engage in the creation, organization, and/or mobilization of volunteers, groups and resources that are involved in projects benefiting the greater community.
  • Demonstrate sustained commitment to meeting community needs.
  • Utilize unique and creative approaches to meeting needs.
  • Develop and foster the virtues and skills of civic engagement and social responsibility.

Award Recipients