| Honoree’s Name: Oliver Jones
Award Category: Hunger & Homelessness Why This Volunteer is Extraordinary:
Where do I even start with Mr. Oliver Jones, the one and only. Well, personally, I have immense respect for Oliver because he worked his way up the ladder to where he is a manager with UPS and because he makes every single person he interacts with feel completely seen. He’s an extremely driven and committed man of color who likely had to face many more hurdles than other men in the same role as him, given the color of his skin. Oliver walks into a room with a positive energy an open mind, and a willingness to help in literally any way he can. Even if that means waking up at 4 AM to drive down to the border to help facilitate the pick up of hundreds of thousands of diapers – something he did to support HomeAid’s Diaper Drive in 2020. Oliver has been a volunteer with HomeAid for more than a decade. He was the chair of HomeAid’s annual Diaper Drive for nearly 10 years and this year Oliver became Vice President of Community Engagement on HomeAid’s Board of Directors; overseeing all volunteer events and campaigns. Oliver commits easily 5-10 hours each week, every week, to supporting HomeAid. He advocates for the organizations’ mission, spends ample time on foot recruiting folks to participate in the Diaper Drive, and he attends basically every HomeAid volunteer event. Oliver is the type of person who does what you need him to do and more. He’ll show up at 5 am, spend the entire day co-managing a volunteer event with you, then head to UPS for his usual work day from 2-11 PM. He’s not just an exemplary volunteer, he’s an exemplary person. As cliche as it may sound it’s the honest truth. Oliver Jones could not be more deserving of this award and proper recognition for the amount of time and passion he puts into supporting HomeAid’s mission. He truly is a rare breed of volunteer and person. |
