Wolfe County’s Ashley Bowman is region’s top volunteer
September 3, 2012 by clackey
Ashley Bowman, who is the Wolfe County Solid Waste Coordinator and PRIDE Coordinator, accepted the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month Award from PRIDE's Tammie Wilson.
A Wolfe County public servant was named southern and eastern Kentucky’s PRIDE Volunteer of the Month for September 2012.
Ashley Bowman, who is the county’s Solid Waste Coordinator, earned the honor for his leadership as the county’s PRIDE Coordinator, which is a volunteer position.
“Ashley, we have been so impressed by your passion for Wolfe County and your willingness to go the extra mile to make sure your community is making the most of PRIDE’s resources for environmental cleanup and education,” said PRIDE’s Tammie Wilson, who surprised Bowman with a plaque at the fiscal court meeting on Aug. 21.
“You have inspired others to volunteer their time to make sure this gorgeous county is clean and healthy for residents and attractive to tourists,” Wilson said. “You also rallied financial sponsors to give your teachers access to PRIDE tools as they instill love for and knowledge about the environment in local students.”
“We are deeply grateful for your service to your county and to our entire region,” Wilson added.
Since Bowman came on board as the county’s PRIDE Coordinator in early 2011, he has guided Wolfe County to win two PRIDE volunteerism awards. During the 2011 PRIDE Spring Cleanup, Wolfe County won the “Get 5 for PRIDE Challenge” by posting the largest increase in volunteer turnout over the previous year. Just today, PRIDE announced that Wolfe County won the 2012 PRIDE Spring Cleanup Award for Greatest Volunteer Participation by a County, with 1,668 volunteers.
Bowman was instrumental in securing local funding to enroll Wolfe County Schools in the PRIDE Environmental Education Outreach Program, which brings hands-on science lessons into local classrooms. He recruited the following businesses and organizations to financially support the program: Wolfe County Fiscal Court, Amyx Farms, Wolfe County Conservation District and Licking Valley RECC.
The PRIDE Volunteer of the Month program recognizes hard work and dedication to the PRIDE initiative, which promotes environmental education and cleanup efforts in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky. With corporate sponsorship from TECO Coal, WYMT-TV airs commercials about each PRIDE Volunteer of the Month.
“Volunteers are the backbone of PRIDE,” said Congressman Hal Rogers, who co-founded PRIDE. “We wouldn’t be where we are without our volunteers. More than 380,000 volunteers have helped with PRIDE cleanup and education projects. We want to thank TECO Coal for helping PRIDE give these generous people the recognition they deserve.”
“Please tell us about PRIDE volunteers who impressed you, so we can thank them,” Wilson said. “Please call us, toll free, at 888-577-4339, or please go online to submit a nomination for the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month Award.”
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