PORT TOWNSEND — Shirley Moss appreciates recognition for her volunteer work as long as it raises the visibility of the Port Townsend Food Bank.
Moss, who has managed the food bank at the Mountain View Campus, 1919 Blaine St., for four years as a volunteer, will be recognized with a 2015 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Service Award later this month.
“Perennially happy and pleasant to work with, Shirley embodies community and national service,” said Retired Senior and Volunteer Program manager Sheila Ramsey, who nominated Moss.
The award will be given to her for her efforts in enhancing the diet of Port Townsend residents who need help feeding themselves and their families.
“This is cool,” said Moss, who was a 2010 Heart of Service Award recipient.
“It’s the governor and it’s fun to be acknowledged like this, but any time you can shine the spotlight of the food bank at the front of people’s minds, it’s a good thing.
“I don’t need to get an award for what I’d do normally, but this is good for the food bank.”
Ramsey’s program coordinates the foot bank volunteers, who serve an average of 17½ hours every week,
Moss, who Ramsey said “amazes everyone who works with her,” served 1,820 volunteer hours, or 54 hours per week.
Moss is one of about 40 people who have been recognized by the program, which is in its 11th year and is administered by Serve Washington, a division of the Washington Commission for National and Community Service.
The Retired Senior Volunteer Program and the Volunteer Centers of Washington are partners in the program, according to Denise Berns, the Serve Washington program assistant.
The honorees are selected from nominations made by local social service organizations.
Moss was nominated by Olympic Community Action Programs.
“Volunteers help to provide support for programs that have gone unfunded,” Berns said.
“They provide an important function.”
On April 21, Moss and the other honorees will attend a reception at the Executive Mansion in Olympia hosted by Trudy Inslee.
Gov. Jay Inslee plans a brief appearance, Berns said.
Following the reception, the group will travel to Seattle and attend the Seattle Mariners’ baseball game against the Houston Astros.
Prior to the game, all of the honorees will gather on the field and be individually recognized, Berns said, with either the youngest or the oldest throwing out the game’s first pitch.
Moss, who is 59, is somewhere in the middle.
Moss is the only one of this year’s nominees hailing from Clallam or Jefferson counties, Berns said.
The food bank draws from a pool of more than 60 volunteers.
It is open to the general public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays. It is open to seniors from noon to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
For more information, phone 360-531-0275.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
