Soon after Amy and I started dating, I was introduced to her mother, Nancy Collins. Now any of you who've met Nancy know that there's something special about meeting her. She has one of those personalities that is not easily forgotten. We all ask strangers and closest friend alike, "How are you doing?" but when Nancy asks that question, there is a genuine interest in your answer.
I am sure when some people meet their potential "in-laws", they secretly wonder if the one they're with will turn out like these parents - in my case, I certainly hope so. And so far, Amy has not disappointed... my beautiful wife is kind, thoughtful, generous to a fault, brilliant, loving, and talented - and much of this can be attributed to her upbringing with Jim and Nancy. She favors her mother more and more every day. And now, I'm thankful to say, my daughter is beginning to favor her too...
Now, soon after meeting my eventual mother-in-law, I learned of her desire for hospice service. Few people have a true "calling" in this world, but this was Nancy's, and she had a long-term vision for that calling - a vision that in the past few years has been realized in the building of Sanctuary Hospice House in Tupelo, MS. This was a calling that Nancy would have undertaken (and did) with little or no recognition. That is, until now...
I won't repeat what can be seen and read below, but recently Nancy was nominated by those closest to this project in Tupelo and has won not only the 2008 Mississippi Governor's Initiative for Volunteer Excellence (GIVE) Award, but was also nominated and won one of 100 national Jefferson Awards for volunteer service. At the ceremony in Washington DC this past Tuesday, Nancy then won one of five annual Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Awards for public service, one of the nation's highest honors for humanitarian work (to put this into perspective, as you can see below Joe Lieberman won another of these awards).
She truly has a heart for her family, friends, most of all for her Lord, but also for whomever that next person is that she asks "how are you doing?".
Below is a local news piece about Nancy's involvement in the hospice house and the actual Associated Press article that ran this past Wednesday in national papers across the country.
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Lieberman, hospice owner win volunteerism awards By DEBORAH HASTINGS
Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Nancy Collins, a Mississippi woman who established a rural hospice offering physical and religious care to the terminally ill, were among more than a dozen recipients Tuesday of the Jefferson Awards, given for national and local public service.
Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, was honored for "thoughtful, principled and effective service" including helping to create the Department of Homeland Security following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as working for campaign finance reform.
Collins of Tupelo, Miss., was selected for her establishment of Sanctuary Hospice House, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian facility modeled after a hospice Collins visited in Mexico City. The hospice has taken in more than 550 people.
The Jefferson Awards were founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sen. Robert Taft Jr. (grandson of President William Howard Taft) and presidential economic adviser Sam Beard. Designed to be a Nobel Prize for public and community service, the awards spotlight national leaders and volunteers at the local level.
Other winners during Tuesday's celebration dinner at Washington's Union Station:
_Public service by a private citizen: Retired District of Columbia police detective Edward Michael Jagen, creator of the Good Knight Child Empowerment Network, which provides training to children on fending off abuse and sexual advances from adults.
_Public service benefiting the disadvantaged: Darell Hammond, leader of KaBOOM! Working with communities and corporate volunteers, Hammond helps bring playgrounds and skate parks to underprivileged areas across the country. Since his organization was founded in 1995 more than 2,000 recreation centers have been built and renovated.
_Public service by individual 35 and under: Ocean Robbins, founder in 1990 at age 16 of Youth for Environmental Sanity, committed to social and environmental change. Robbins, who lives in northern California, also sponsors camps for young activists and has spoken to thousands of high school and college students.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Recipients (nominated through local media outlets):
_Lia Rowley, creator of Children's Village, a nonprofit organization in Santa Rosa, Calif., that provides housing to children needing long-term foster care, with an emphasis on keeping siblings together.
_Hank and Debbie Perret, operators of the Miles Perret Foundation in Lafayette, La., which offers counseling and financial support to cancer patients and their families.
_Jackie Betz, Erin Drischler and Megan Neuf, seniors at Shaler Area High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., who obtained a county grant to educate young women on the high rate of sexual assaults against female freshmen college students.
_Harry Vogler of Colorado, who has raised more than $60,000 to help fund the Emily Griffith Center, a 100-acre ranch that provides treatment and education services to severely abused, neglected and mentally ill children and their families.
