Virginia Service

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Jordan Starbuck
Area Served: Richmond
Jordan Starbuck's passion for conserving the environment led her from a volunteered position to a full-time job in her chosen field. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in the spring of 2008 with a degree in business management and administration, Jordan found herself, like most students after graduation, without a job. She knew she wanted to get into the recycling and sustainability arena. After speaking with a woman who has been working in the business for over 20 years, she could not offer her a position but gave her the name of a person with whom she should volunteer. Jordan became a volunteer with the Environmental Conservationist at the VCU Physical Plant Department in September 2008. She spent about 20 hours a week working, understanding and learning as much as possible to gain the experience she was lacking. By March 2009, Jordan's persistence and commitment to her volunteer position paid off when VCU changed her role to a part-time paid position. She continued to work hard and by July 2009, she successfully competed against 70 other applicants and was offered a full-time position as the Sustainability Coordinator for VCU. This is a new position that was created from her volunteer experience. Jordan's commitment to sustainability is not limited to her full-time position at VCU. At her part-time job as a server in a Shockoe Bottom restaurant, Havana '59, she has been instrumental in convincing the management there to switch to using biodegradable and environmentally friendly disposable products, such as to-go bags and containers made from baking soda and corn rather than oil. She also has started a recycling program for glass bottles and cardboard and inspires other employees to participate in the recycling initiative. Jordan recommends that if you cannot find a job, especially in this economy, or you want to gain experience, follow your passion in looking for volunteer opportunities. Jordan says, "Unless you heart is really into it, it would be discouraging to spend your time gaining experience while earning no income; volunteering in a field of career interest gives you a chance to see what the real life job will be like. If there is a need for the volunteer then there is work to be done which could eventually turn into a paid position."
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Kimberly Ann Drunagel
Area Served: Winchester
Kimberly Drunagel has been a volunteer for Volunteer Emergency Families for Children (VEFC) since the summer of 2001. VEFC is a non-profit agency that recruits and trains volunteer host families to provide short term shelter care to children in crisis who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. The children stay for up to 21 days in a VEFC home until the placing agency can make other arrangements for their care. VEFC host families do no receive any payment to provide food and shelter for the children and are on call 24/7, 365 days a year. Kimberly and her family have hosted children, some with difficult behaviors, 73 times since she began volunteering in 2001 and has provided 355 days of service. In 2008 alone, her family hosted 11 children. Whenever possible, Kimberly involves the children in her own volunteer efforts so that they will learn that they have something to give to their communities. In addition to serving children in her own home, Kimberly also has voluntarily managed the placement of children into VECF's host homes in the northern Shenandoah Valley, spending an average of 15 hours a month on this task and serving on the VEFC local council. In addition, she recruits new volunteer host families, solicits donations from area businesses, speaks to civic groups and promotes VEFC at community events. Kimberly believes that "everyone should find their passion and volunteer their service, doing what they think they can, and then doing a little more."  
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Bill and Nancy Hudson
Area Served: Radford, Montgomery County
Bill and Nancy Hudson are a very active and giving couple of senior citizens that have been members of the RSVP of Montgomery County and Radford for three and one half years. During that time they have served in many capacities and logged in a total of 6,305 hours of service. In addition to their contributions to RSVP, they have been active volunteers with numerous agencies throughout the New River Valley. Additionally, this dynamic duo have been a solid disaster relief team, venturing across the United States to all types of disaster relief operations. Their records show that they have worked on 32 disasters including Hurricane Katrina and 11 others, floods in four states, plant explosions, fires, the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on 9/11, and the Virginia Tech shootings. Through their work with Habitat for Humanity, they have helped build eighteen houses, including two in Mississippi, five in Alabama, eight in Louisiana and one in Alaska, as well as two homes in Radford. They have traveled internationally with Peaceworks to Mexico City to repair homes damaged by an earthquake and to Honduras to perform hurricane damage repair. Volunteering has been a lifelong commitment for both of them, especially since their retirement. For the past ten years, the Hudson's have traveled over 10,000 miles a year doing charitable work. When asked why they do so much, Nancy stated that they enjoy traveling, meeting people and like to help others in need as a way of putting their Christian faith into love and practice.  
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Marietta Johnson
Area Served: Arlington County
Marietta Johnson has dedicated her professional life to making the world and our corner of it just a little bit better. Her expertise is in the area of child development, reading, and English as a Second Language instruction. She cares deeply for the immigrant families of Arlington, and for all families and children with whom she works. Ms. Johnson is an extremely talented curriculum writer. She has a way of organizing information and presenting it to teachers so that they can impart knowledge and skills to children in tactile, fun, interesting, and creative ways. Ms. Johnson's wonderful writing skills are also evident in books she has written for developing readers.
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Pete and Peggy Tucker
Area Served: Midlothian
Pete and Peggy Tucker serve as a volunteer host family for at-risk kids. They have volunteered to keep numerous children over the past five years from ages eight months to 18 years old. They have volunteered their time on weekdays, weekends and holidays. They have opened their home to children at risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. They provide children with a safe and secure family home. They have volunteered their time, talents, and financial resources in an effort to protect fragile families from disintegrating. They work with many families of the children they keep to maintain the strong bond of family.
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