Lisa Cripps with the DeKalb Prevention Coalition was recently one of the honorees of the Governor’s Volunteer Star Award during the twelfth annual ceremony on February 9. The awards celebrated the efforts of 115 volunteers statewide who have strived to improve their communities through service. Miss Tennessee Volunteer 2019, Kerri Arnold, presented the awards, and NewsChannel5 weekend anchor, Jennifer Kraus, served as emcee for the event.
Participating counties were invited to select one youth and one adult volunteer to receive this prestigious award. Nominees were judged based on the community’s need of the volunteer service performed, initiative taken to perform the service, creativity used to solve a community problem and impact of the volunteer service on the community. The individual awards are sponsored by Community Care of Rutherford County and Tennessee 4-H. Visit www.volunteertennessee.net to find photos of individual honorees receiving their award, as well as additional event photos.
Lisa Cripps – Dekalb County Adult Honoree – Since becoming board chair and director of the DeKalb Prevention Coalition two years ago, Ms. Cripps has brought this organization’s community engagement to new heights. She works tirelessly and fearlessly to bring awareness, education, and solutions to our community’s drug addiction-related issues, for both addict and prevention programs. In the past two years, Lisa has had over 100 speaking engagements to over 1,000 school children. In 2019, the DeKalb Prevention Coalition held a “Take Back” drug collection that recovered 8.6 pounds of controlled substances and 56.6 pounds of other medications. In addition to her service to DeKalb Prevention Coalition, Lisa serves as Vice Chair o f the Chamber of Commerce board of directors. She is a graduate of Leadership DeKalb, and actively gives of her time during program days. She is very involved in her church and has participated in mission work both locally and abroad. Lisa Cripps makes retirement look exhausting!
“Each year, 1.6 million Tennessee volunteers give more than 137 million hours of service, contributing the equivalent of $3.3 billion to Tennessee’s economy. They are the backbone of our great state, and by giving of their time and talents to fulfill needs that would otherwise go unmet, they truly embody the spirit of giving,” said Volunteer Tennessee Executive Director, Jim Snell.
