In his words … Giving Back to Local Communities
I’ve volunteered with Turtle Creek Civitan, a service organization focused on helping the mentally and physically challenged in the Jonesboro area, for a number of years. I’m currently the chaplain but over the years have handled a wide variety of responsibilities – everything from providing administrative support to building our award-winning parade float for the annual Jonesboro Christmas parade.
Since our group was founded in 2004, we’ve worked hard to support our community members through programs like the Special Olympics, hosting an Easter egg hunt for the children at The Learning Center, adopting a family at Christmas, coordinating a summer program for special-needs children and helping those who need wheelchair ramps through our Build-A-Ramp project.
The employee volunteer grant I received from Anheuser-Busch will help Turtle Creek Civitan administer a summer program for autistic children. We host this program annually and provide a six-week session that includes socialization skills training and mental health services for the 26 autistic children who participate.