Rockwall County Helping Hands honors volunteers with Starfish Awards

ROCKWALL, TX – May 25, 2021 — Rockwall County Helping Hands celebrated their volunteers for their 11,000+ hours of service to the agency this past year with a Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast.

Texas Health Hospital Rockwall President Cindy Perrin presented the Circle of Care award to Jim Haayen, for exhibiting care for fellow volunteers, care for self and care of clients and their loved ones by building relationships and being an example of integrity, grace, and excellence.

Haayen also received a Starfish Award for his participation and exceptional volunteerism in the Food Pantry / Assistance & Referral Department at Helping Hands.

Other Starfish Award recipients were presented to the following individuals for their dedicated volunteerism efforts in their respective agency departments:

Jane Simonson – Philanthropy / Events Department

Cortney Schale – Helping Hands Boutique

Cyndy Nelson – Helping Hands Thrift Store

Donna Barnett with the Health Center accepted the Starfish Award on behalf of Dr. Gabriela Zandomeni, who was unable to attend the event.

Since the awards ceremony was cancelled due to the pandemic last year, the Boutique and Thrift Store presented their 2019 Starfish awards during the breakfast this morning to Roxanne Haayen and Ceci Chancellor.

Local students Kate Seifer and Sydney Hail were also presented with Starfish Awards for their six years of volunteer service to Helping Hands.

In the past year, a total of 1,965 volunteers gave 11,719 hours of their time to the various departments within Helping Hands.

“And that was during a pandemic year,” said Jon Bailey, President of Rockwall County Helping Hands. “That just shows your commitment to this organization and what we all do to help people in Rockwall County who are in need.”

Story and photos by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News.

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