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Coffee County citizens are encouraged to attend the Coffee County Commission meeting on Jan. 13, 2026 and celebrate this year’s top volunteer: Jennifer Simmons.

After soliciting public nominations, citizens from various walks of life served on a selection committee to independently review and score eligible submissions. Those results were compiled and tabulated by the Coffee County Coordinator and the top-scoring volunteer selected.

In conjunction with the 17th annual Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards, Volunteer Tennessee is pleased to recognize Jennifer Simmons, who has served the people of Coffee County by volunteering with the Coffee County Rescue Squad since 2003. She, along with her husband Neal, help coordinate vehicle and equipment maintenance, fundraising events, and personnel training and certification, assuring everyone in Coffee County, as well as surrounding counties, that the all-volunteer rescue squad is trained and ready for any emergency situation: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She also coordinates the Gene Taylor and Steve Graves Christmas Foundation, ensuring that needy children in Coffee County have food and toys for Christmas. She sacrifices significant personal and family time to ensure residents of Coffee County are safe.

“One of our greatest expressions of love for the place we live is by giving back as a volunteer,” Coffee County Coordinator G. Lamar Wilkie said. “Imagine the kind of community we would have if everyone in Coffee County gave just a couple of hours of their time and effort each month to making it a better place for everyone.”

This exceptional achievement will not only be honored at the Coffee County Commission meeting on Jan. 13, but Simmons will also be honored, along with recipients from the other counties across Tennessee, at the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards Celebration in Franklin on March 8, 2026.

About Volunteer Tennessee

Volunteer Tennessee coordinates the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards at the state level. Volunteer Tennessee is a 25-member bipartisan citizen commission appointed by Governor Lee to oversee AmeriCorps and service-learning programs; and to advance volunteerism and citizen service to solve community problems in the Volunteer State. For more information about Volunteer Tennessee and the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards, visit www.volunteertennessee.net.