April 25, 2008
UT Martin student and staff member honored for community service
MARTIN, Tenn . - The Tennessee Higher Education Commission honored a University of Tennessee at Martin student and a staff member for outstanding community service work, April 24, in Nashville. Terrill Orton, a junior marketing major of Centerville, and Steve Lemond, Information Technology Services senior systems analyst of Martin, each received a Love Community Service Award after being selected from a group of Tennessee college and university nominees.
“Terrill’s personal faith and dedication to helping children are evident,” said Dr. Tom Rakes, UT Martin chancellor, citing a recent mission trip to Nicaragua and her continued support of a four-year-old orphaned boy, Ramon. “She is just one example of how UT Martin students make a difference through community service, not to seek recognition, but to make our world a better place.”
“Steve Lemond’s dedication to community service is evident through his ongoing volunteer efforts to make our community and region better places to live and work,” said Rakes. “There is no doubt that Steve’s dedication to scouting and to the Kiwanis Club makes a difference in the lives of countless young people.”
Ten individuals, five faculty/staff members and five students, received the awards during a reception and program at the THEC office. Awards go to individuals who excel in volunteer work and community service activities. The Tennessee General Assembly created the recognition programs for faculty, staff and students at public and private two- and four-year post-secondary institutions in 1991. In 1993, the General Assembly funded the program by presenting $1,000 cash awards to future recipients. In 1996, the commission adopted a recommendation by its awards task force to rename the awards for the late Tennessee Rep. Harold Love, who sponsored legislation to create the program.
Following the trip to Nicaragua, the first overseas mission trip undertaken by Catalyst Missions, which was started last year by a UT Martin professor, Orton is already planning a return trip in October. She also is involved in many community service activities associated with the UT Martin campus. She is a member of Chi Omega sorority, which raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Through her efforts, and those of her sorority sisters, the chapter has granted four wishes in the past two years. She has also participated in canned food and Christmas stocking drives for the past two years to benefit We Care Ministries, a local agency that provides assistance for those in need.
“I volunteer because I feel like I have been called to do it. The physical effort required to volunteer is so insignificant in comparison to the lasting emotional rewards that I feel when knowing that someone's life has just been changed,” said Orton. “There is no greater feeling than to see someone, especially a child, smile because they just realized that someone cares. The Love Community Service Award is such an honor because it is proof that others notice and appreciate the good that is being done in the world. I think that Margaret Mead stated it best when she said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has,’” added Orton.
Lemond’s longtime membership in the Martin Kiwanis Club has allowed him to help the community in many ways. He currently serves as Cub Scout Pack 37 cubmaster and has served in other capacities with the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the Martin Police Department Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, having completed the academy in 2001. Through the alumni group, he and others have created the Volunteers in Community Service to assist the police department in a variety of ways, including security patrols at local events and assisting with disaster preparedness.
“I am honored to be selected as a recipient of this award. I believe volunteering in community service benefits the Martin area,” said Lemond. “My work in scouting, the Martin Kiwanis Club and the Citizens Police Academy allows me to work with different groups of people to make Martin a better place.” He added, “It is rewarding to see the benefits of our work to other people.”
The recent recognitions bring the total to 24 UT Martin students, faculty and staff members recognized by the THEC Love Community Service Awards programs.
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