KCEOC honors local volunteers

Corbin School Teacher Doris Moore, Knox County Attorney Charley Greene Dixon Jr. and Kevin Smith of Laurel County were among the eight finalists for the KCEOC “Helpful Hands, Hopeful Hearts” Volunteer of the Year Award who were recognized for their efforts Saturday night.
KCEOC members noted that Moore has the heart of a school teacher and a love of children. She is responsible for starting “The Backpack Club” in the Corbin School District in 2005, and still manages the program and the 30 volunteers who keep it going.
“To help someone is not only a responsibility but a privilege,” Moore told KCEOC members when asked what motivates her.
Along with his work as Knox County Attorney, Charley Greene Dixon Jr. volunteers with various civic organizations and charitable events in the community including: Barbourville/Knox County Tourism Committee, UNITE Prayer Walks, and at the high school prom assemblies.
KCEOC officials noted Dixon’s work ethic and enthusiasm as traits that can make the community proud to call him one of its own.
“I am driven to volunteer because I take pride in my community,” Dixon told KCEOC members when asked what motivates him.
Kevin Smith has organized several community outreach events in Laurel County and surrounding area including fundraisers for Chad’s Hope of Manchester and the Christian Appalachian Project. In addition, he has gotten hands-on, working to prepare Thanksgiving meals for the elderly.
After noticing the trend of Southeastern Kentucky’s best and brightest leaving the area for higher education and then not returning home, in 2009, he developed, Young Professionals of East Kentucky, a non-profit organization designed to work to retain those individuals in the area.
The organization is active in 32 counties across the region.
Currently a student at Princeton University, Smith said time is valuable, but he is happy to devote some of his time to volunteering.
“The best use of one’s time it to help those less fortunate and in need,” Smith told KCEOC members when asked what motivates him.
The trio was joined on the list of finalists by: Lora Lee Frazier Howard of Clay County, Patricia Fulton of Bell County, Jerry Weaver of Harlan County, Joyce Marks of Jackson County and Jean Allen of Rockcastle County.
After consideration, Howard was selected as the “Volunteer of the Year.”
KCEOC officials said Lee has a hands-on approach to volunteerism and is in touch with the needs of her community.
The organizations she is involved with include: the Optimist Club, the Clay County Health Coalition, the Clay-Jackson Agency on Substance Abuse, Bible Schools across the county and “Just Get moving Manchester.”
“I have a desire to help others, have a fulfilling life and to make my community a better place,” Howard told KCEOC officials.
KCEOC officials said the eight finalists made it very difficult to select a winner as each demonstrates leadership by challenging themselves and others in their community through the respective examples they set with their volunteerism.