Lieutenant Governor Bill Nungesser and Volunteer Louisiana have announced nine 2020 Champions of Service.
The Champions of Service were selected from a pool of statewide nominees of people, groups, and businesses in Louisiana who demonstrate compassion, dedication, leadership, initiative, innovation, and/or creativity in addressing community challenges while serving others.
“I am proud to help honor the achievements of our service champions while encouraging others to become active volunteers in their communities,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “The 2020 Champions of Service, as well as the thousands of other volunteers across Louisiana, show the strength of Louisiana’s character and the resilience of our spirit.”
Volunteer Louisiana recognizes six regional champions as well as statewide AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and corporate champions. Of the nine selected, Minden’s very own Ethan Jeffus was selected as the Northwest Champion.
“Ethan Jeffus of Minden, LA, is a high school student who is actively involved with a variety of community organizations, including volunteering with the local food pantry, nursing homes, and also as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. Ethan currently serves as the Junior Civitan International Director where he started a project collecting socks to give as gifts to residents at a local nursing home during Christmas. This was so successful that for the second year of the project, Ethan grew the sock collection and donations to include Shreveport, Bossier, Minden, Ruston, and West Monroe, which distributed socks to residents in their local nursing homes,” stated the Volunteer Louisiana Press Release.
When asked about receiving the nomination, Jeffus said, “Being nominated for this statewide award is a great honor to me. Over the years I have volunteered with a multitude of non-profit organizations. I feel the greatest part about receiving this award is that I wasn’t expecting it. Volunteering in the efforts to meet the needs of the community has always been a passion of mine. To receive state-level recognition for being an outstanding volunteer greatly leads me to believe a need has been met and I hope to continue to meet the needs of the community.”
Volunteer Louisiana, along with Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser and the Volunteer Louisiana Foundation, will honor these winners at the Champions of Service Awards Luncheon on April 22 during National Volunteer Week.