CECIL STANTON

Cecil Stinson is a long time member of the Happy Valley Community. Happy Valley is a small wide spread rural areas where many elderly people live.

Cecil does many acts of kindness for his neighbors in the following areas of service.

· Community Needs and Solutions: The need is for low-income families in the southeast portion of Shasta County to receive food commodities three times a month. The Brown Bag Program involves making up to 90 phone calls three times a month to each recipient making sure they will be able to pick up their groceries, if they cannot Cecil will deliver to them.

· Connection building: Besides running the Brown Bag Program he makes contact with neighbors to make sure they are okay. Cecil also keeps an eye out to make sure the upkeep on their houses and yards are done. He does everything from digging ditches to making sure their air conditioners and furnaces are in good working order.

· Ongoing Involvement: Cecil has been on the job for over 22 years. He picks up the commodities in Redding and returns leftover foodstuffs and paperwork to the S.S.N.P. Food Bank Warehouse using his personal vehicle and gas. The only stipend he receives is RSVP mileage reimbursement of $23.25 a month for the first 75 miles. He has only received this amount for the last 6 months.

· Impact: The overall health of the seniors and others in the community is better nutrition and a closer tight knit community.

· Innovation: Cecil is on the Happy Valley Community Center Board. This Center is a focal point for activities in the area and they are involved in fundraisers that support local volunteer fire department and the community in general. The Happy Valley Strawberry Festival of which he is also a board member is an annual event in the community. The festival brings the entire community together to raise funds to make their community a better place to live.

The Shasta County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program recognized him as the “Volunteer of the Year” for his many contributions to the community in April 2004. The Shasta County Board of Supervisors also lauded him at a public ceremony for his many activities this year.

Cecil is truly a volunteer extraordinaire, and worthy of your award. He does not ask for any recognition he just does what needs to be done.