Coffee County citizens are encouraged to attend the Coffee County Commission meeting Jan. 14 and celebrate this year’s top volunteer.

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

In conjunction with the 17^th Annual Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards, Volunteer Tennessee is pleased to recognize Kimberly King, who has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication to serving the people of Manchester and Coffee County.

Despite the eligibility requirement of residing in the same county in which one volunteers, the Volunteer Tennessee Commission granted an exception in her case. She was selected based on her vast array of community service efforts with Manchester’s veterans organizations; coordinating various civic parades and ceremonies such as the Vietnam Veterans Honors Dinner, Memorial Day, Patriot Day and Veterans Day. As Commander of Manchester’s VFW, she oversees annual Teacher of the Year awards as well as essay contests for middle and high school students. Over the past two years, she led ten area Veterans of Foreign Wars Posts to unprecedented success, enhancing communities throughout Middle Tennessee.

Kimberly leads Operation Joy, a monthly USO-style music and comedy program for assisted living residents in Manchester and Tullahoma, with her husband David. She helped spearhead creation of the Coffee County Hall of Veterans photo project in the Coffee County Administrative Plaza. She also assists with the coordination of Wreaths Across America, ensuring every veteran’s grave is respectfully decorated with a live wreath each December.

Coffee County Coordinator G. Lamar Wilkie notes: “One of our greatest expressions of love for the place we live is by giving back as a volunteer. 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. 14; Kimberly will also be honored, along with recipients from the other counties across Tennessee, at the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards Celebration in Franklin, Tennessee on Feb. 16. 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.