Volunteer with 800 hours recognized

Joe Perry / The Item Beverly Stevens was presented with the Network Volunteer Service Award by Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer on Wednesday at the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments for her volunteer work with the COG's Area Agency on Aging.

By JOE PERRY
Item Staff Writer
jperry@theitem.com

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer stopped in Sumter on Wednesday to honor a prolific volunteer for her work with the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments' Area Agency on Aging.

Beverly Stevens, a 58-year-old Gamecock City native, has contributed over 800 hours of her time in the past year volunteering with the Area Agency on Aging, noted Aging Director Shawn Keith in his nomination letter.

"Although I'm giving to them, I'm the one who truly receives," Stevens said a few minutes before Bauer arrived. "It's very rewarding to be able to help."

Stevens first got interested in volunteer service by taking part in the Sumter County White House Conference on Aging forum in 2005, and was then picked to be a delegate for the county at the state level White House Conference on Aging.

Stevens then went on to help out as a State Health Insurance Program counselor.

She's helped 25 clients successfully apply for Medicare's prescription drug low-income subsidy program, which saves clients hundreds of dollars each year. Last fall, she counseled and enrolled 72 clients into Medicare Part D plans.

Stevens was recently appointed to serve on the Santee-Lynches Regional Aging Advisory Council, also volunteers at Tuomey Regional Medical Center's Intensive Care waiting room as a hostess, and helps feed the homeless by bagging lunches and assisting with a food pantry.

"We need more people like Beverly on this earth," Bauer said, before presenting her with the Network Volunteer Service Award. "We need more people that care about making mankind better off."

Bauer, who oversees the Office on Aging, praised the "significant contributions" Stevens has made to senior citizens in the area and drew hearty applause from the SLRCOG employees when he noted she's spent 800 hours volunteering over the past year.

"The impact you have on these folks, Beverly, is tremendous," he said, then discussed the state's need for volunteers and how it ranks in the top 10 per capita in charitable giving.

"You are changing people's lives," he told Stevens. "We're thankful for you, the state couldn't do without people like you, and we love you. We appreciate what you're doing."



Contact Staff Writer Joe Perry at jperry@theitem.com or (803) 774-1272.