Hands On Powered by United Way of Greater Nashville Celebrates Volunteers for 38th Year
Middle Tennesseans were honored today for their volunteerism during Hands On’s 38th annual Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards presented by Jackson National Life Insurance Company (Jackson®). Recipients were announced at 14TENN in a ceremony also live on social media. The event was emceed by News Channel 5 Reporter Amelia Young.
The Strobel Awards honor volunteers of all ages and backgrounds for their inspirational service to their communities and celebrate Mary Catherine Strobel, a Nashvillian who displayed outstanding dedication to service throughout her life.
“Over the last year, volunteers have been the driving force for good in our communities,” said Lori Shinton, Chief Volunteerism Officer, United Way of Greater Nashville. “We’ve seen hundreds of volunteers give back to our neighbors in need, not only in response to last December’s tornadoes, but all year long. It’s the volunteer spirit that is engrained in Middle Tennessee that gives our communities hope. This year’s Strobel Volunteer Awards celebrated the inspiration we find from volunteers whose incredible work makes our community better.”
Community members nominated more than 150 volunteers from 11 counties who showed the spirit of service. A panel of judges selected the six award recipients, who will each receive $1,000 to donate to the nonprofit of their choice. The other finalists will receive $250 to donate to an organization they care about.
“I’d like to express my sincere appreciation to each of the honorees for their incredible commitment to create positive change in our community. Together, we can serve the Middle Tennessee nonprofit community and amplify their impactful work to ensure our neighbors’ needs are met for the long term,” said Susannah Berry, corporate philanthropy director with Jackson.
This year’s Strobel Awards celebrated the life of Mary Catherine’s son, Charles Strobel, who died in August 2023. Charles was a humanitarian, founder of Room In The Inn and speaker at the Strobel Volunteer Awards. He embodied his mother’s legacy of selfless volunteerism, and for the first time, the awards honored a volunteer with the “Charles Strobel Legacy of Service Award.”
The award recipients are as follows:
NEW-Charles Strobel Legacy of Service Award presented by Amazon: The FreeStore Team
Youth Volunteer Award presented by Asurion: Rincon Jagarlamudi
Adult Volunteer Award presented by Frazier & Deeter: Jason Pazirandeh
Older Adult Volunteer Award presented by Advance Financial: Eileen Seitz
Disaster Response Award presented by Kroger: Johnny Rodman
Social Justice Impact Award presented by HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health: Larry Powell
For more information on this year’s Strobel Awards and the award recipient stories, visit hon.org/strobel2024