PRESS RELEASE
South Carolina Office of the Governor
David M. Beasley - Governor
For Immediate Release:  April 20, 1998
Contact:  Gary Karr (803) 734-9840
GOVERNOR PRAISES VOLUNTEERS AT AWARD CEREMONY

      (Columbia) -- Governor David M. Beasley today thanked South Carolina volunteers for answering the highest call: the call to serve.

The Governor handed out seven awards honoring various volunteers - individuals, families, groups or businesses - for their work in their local communities. The event was sponsored by the Governorís Division of Volunteer Services and the South Carolina Association for Volunteer Administration.

"You didn't need a conference to tell you what needed to be done. You saw the needs around you, and you took action," the Governor told the award recipients and other award nominees. "That's the spirit that built this state. And that's the spirit we are calling on to make her all we know she can be."

As the Beasley Administration seeks to shrink bureaucracy and get government out of places it does not belong, "we haven't made all the needs go away. We've just put responsibility for meeting those needs back where it's always been .. back with the people," the Governor said.

"It is your helping hands, and those of volunteers across our state who continue to continue to lift us up and carry us to a better place, where needs are met and unlimited potential is realized," Governor Beasley said.

The Governor has also proclaimed this week Volunteer Week in South Carolina.

Those who received awards today were:

Community Leader: Neal Petersen of Charleston, who works with elementary school children. He plans on sailing the world this fall while communicating with school children via the Internet.

Direct Service Volunteer: Richard Mole of Charleston, who helps the elderly get to the store and to medical appointments. He also restores bicycles for low-income children and volunteers at a menís crisis shelter.

Group Volunteer: Epiphany Ministry of Columbia, where members donate their time planning and creating spiritual retreats for young people in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Youth Individual: Erin Pruitt of Seneca, who has raised money and food for Alzheimerís patients and the homeless. Today was Miss Pruittís 18th birthday.

Family: The Vickerys (Eddie and Carol, with children Kelley, Brooke and Dustin) of Anderson, who are involved in a host of special projects ranging from PTA to church functions. The three children are volunteers for Special Olympics, among other causes.

Workplace: Consolidated Systems Inc. of Columbia, which has supported Habitat for Humanity for more than a decade.

Robin Burns Award:  Lee A. Westberry of Goose Creek, who directs a ìservice-learningî course at Stratford High School in Goose Creek. The course requires that students identify a local social problem, study it, volunteer with those who need help and then present a case for fighting the problem.