The Twelfth Annual Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards ceremony will honor volunteers from 69 counties in Franklin on February 9. The awards will celebrate the efforts of 115 volunteers statewide who have strived to improve their communities through service. Miss Tennessee Volunteer 2019, Kerri Arnold, will present the awards, and News Channel 5 weekend anchor, Jennifer Kraus, will serve as emcee for the event.
One youth and one adult volunteer were selected from participating counties to receive this prestigious award. Selected from Carroll County are Rev. Malcolm Norton of Trezevant as the adult honoree and Anna Batte from Bruceton as the youth nominee. Nominees were judged based on the community’s need of the volunteer service performed, initiative taken to perform the service, creativity used to solve a community problem and impact of the volunteer service on the community. The individual awards are sponsored by Community Care of Rutherford County and Tennessee 4-H.
Malcolm Norton – Carroll County Adult Honoree
Malcolm Norton is the retired pastor of Trezevant Baptist Church and current interim pastor at Enon Baptist Church in McKenzie. Malcolm has always been a community volunteer and dedicated his life to service. He has worked with Trezevant Ministerial Alliance for over twenty years to coordinate Second Harvest Food Bank giveaways in Middle Tennessee and the new facility in Camden. For many years, he worked with and ministered to students and athletes at West Carroll High School. Malcolm also helped to provide backpacks with food for the weekend to help support students at West Carroll Primary and Elementary Schools. Additionally, he works with six Baptist associations to coordinate associational and regional Bible drills. Malcolm’s volunteer spirit, compassion for others, and deep faith are manifested in his unselfish commitment to serve.
Anna Batte – Carroll County Youth Honoree
Anna Batte attends Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central High School where she is an excellent student and a member of nine clubs. She serves as Beta Club secretary, Student Council treasurer, class reporter, and yearbook editor. Anna has completed numerous hours of community service for her school and for the town of Bruceton by providing gifts for less fortunate classmates and working canned food drives for local food pantries and churches. She is currently attending Carroll County Leadership and has excelled through extracurricular achievements. Anna has won multiple theatre awards at David Lipscomb University while competing in Destination Imagination, received the distinction award from the London College of Music on her piano exams, won the Carroll County Fair pageant, and took third runner-up honors in the Tennessee State Fair pageant in January that will extend her volunteerism and community service in that role.
The Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards also includes business and non-profit categories. One business and one non-profit were selected from each of Tennessee’s three Grand Regions for their outstanding community involvement and service. The business honorees include: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, East Tennessee Business Honoree; Southeast Venture, Middle Tennessee Business Honoree; and Medtronic, West Tennessee Business Honoree. The business awards are sponsored by Advance Financial. The non-profit honorees include: Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, East Tennessee Non-Profit Honoree; Nashville Conflict Resolution Center, Middle Tennessee Non-Profit Honoree; and Beautiful Spirited Women, West Tennessee Non-Profit Honoree. The non-profit awards are sponsored by Friends of Volunteer Tennessee.
“Each year, 1.6 million Tennessee volunteers give more than 137 million hours of service, contributing the equivalent of $3.3 billion to Tennessee’s economy.
“They are the backbone of our great state, and by giving of their time and talents to fulfill needs that would otherwise go unmet, they truly embody the spirit of giving,” said Volunteer Tennessee Executive Director, Jim Snell.
Volunteer Tennessee coordinates the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards at the state level. Volunteer Tennessee is the 25 member, bipartisan citizen board appointed by the Governor to oversee AmeriCorps and service-learning programs and to advance volunteerism and citizen service to solve community problems in the Volunteer State.
