2020 Difference Makers include 10 special people

The Daily American Republic recognized 10 individuals Thursday night for the impact they make on the community.

These Difference Makers were nominated by family, friends, co-workers and those impacted by their work for embodying the qualities for charity, good-will and generosity. They were recognized in a virtual ceremony on the DAR Facebook page for their work.

This year’s nominees include: Dave Elledge with Buddy Ball, Jenny Fears with Deliver Hope, Patricia Jakylovich with Lake Road Elementary School, Rosa Johnson with Butler County NAACP, Serra McCabe with Ripley County Outreach Ministry, Janet McNece with Women Aware, Kati Ray with the Poplar Bluff History Museum, Laura Sappington with United Gospel Rescue Mission, Sabrina Weaver with Poplar Bluff Junior High School Mules soccer teams and Bishop Rob Webb with Mt. Calvary Powerhouse Church.

__Dave Elledge__

Elledge works to support the kids in the community through a variety of different ways. His main organizations are Buddy Ball and Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

Buddy Ball is a non-profit organization, which provides sports services at no cost to persons with mental and physical developmental disabilities. Elledge does social media for the organization, along with graphic designs and the uniforms. He became a board member after the creators moved to Florida.

He also started the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace this year, which builds beds for kids in the community, who don’t have one.

Elledge is also on the Bright Futures board, an organization that helps meet the needs of Poplar Bluff R-I students.

__Jenny Fears__

Fears was moved to help others as the COVID-19 pandemic reached the area in March, and she felt as though God was telling her and a friend to do something.

She organized the Deliver Hope program, which brought together different religious organizations in the area to collect and deliver food items to the elderly. They also partnered with the Northside Nutrition Center to grow the meals-on-wheels program, as well as the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and its Building Bonds program.

__Patricia Jakylovich__

Jakylovich volunteers at Lake Road Elementary School, where she’s known for helping students with reading, donating supplies and sitting with those who don’t have anyone who can attend school-parent activities.

She’s considered a caring adult, who sees the students needing positive attention the most and finds a way to connect.

Jakylovich also was a member of a convent, a nurse and later a member of the Women’s Army Corps, and spent 26 years as a staff member for the mental health department of the Veterans Administration.

__Rosa Johnson__

Johnson is the interim president for the local NAACP, takes part in Bridging the Gap conversations and started a “Get Juiced” program during area closures due to COVID-19.

She also offers free haircuts for veterans and students, and coaches children’s track and women’s softball teams.

Her “Get Juiced” program brought her kids into her volunteer work. Johnson and her family, as well as others, delivered goodie bags to youth after schools closed for the year.

__Serra McCabe__

McCabe heads the Ripley County Outreach Ministry, providing monthly food distribution to those who need it and recently expanded to a Diaper Bank as well.

She said the Diaper Bank idea came up after becoming a mother and realizing how expensive diapers and wipes are. Her relationship with God, McCabe said, is what keeps her going with everything she does.

McCabe also helps with smaller projects around Doniphan, such as trash pick-up and collecting winter clothes for those in need. She coordinates the “Every Kid Counts” Back-To-School clothing drive.

__Janet McNece__

McNece is a major sponsor for the Women Aware conference, as well as teaching break-out sessions every year on women in the workforce.

She chaired the March for Dimes walk for 10 years, served on chamber boards in both Poplar Bluff and Jonesboro, Arkansas, sponsored the Ripley County Bullying Awareness/D.A.R.E campaign for nine years and served as a keynote speaker on the lifelong effect of drugs.

She and her husband, William, are co-owners of Productive Staffing in Poplar Bluff, Jonesboro and Paragould, Arkansas.

For McNece, volunteer work is something to be done without expecting recognition.

__Kati Ray__

Ray started out making a list of names of those who died in the Poplar Bluff tornado of 1927, but now plays a role in preserving the history of the area.

She joined the Butler County Historical Society in 1998. Now, she’s the board secretary and curator for three of the displays at the Poplar Bluff History Museum.

Her work on the Poplar Bluff tornado is featured at the museum, as well as a book she’s looking forward to releasing a second edition of.

__Laura Sappington__

Sappington is known as “the lady in the red truck” because of her work delivering boxes of food from the Poplar Bluff United Gospel Rescue Mission in her red truck.

Every week, she helps deliver between 30 and 100 boxes to those in need. This includes anything from visiting the Twin Towers or an area women’s shelter or driving through town looking for someone, who looks like they could use a little help.

She said she doesn’t just knock on doors, but goes to people walking around or sitting on porches and offers them a box of food.

__Sabrina Weaver__

Weaver is the go-to mom as the president of the Poplar Bluff Junior High School Mules Soccer teams. She also volunteers as a member of the Butler County Fair board and donates to organizations, such as Haven House and FosterAdopt Connect.

She received the desire to give back from growing up and watching her mother be the first to volunteer for things in the community.

That’s something she wants to instill in her daughter, Lindsay, and nephew, Alex.

She got started by helping raise funds for equipment and travel expenses for one of her daughter’s soccer teams and that has evolved into doing so much more.

__Bishop Ron Webb__

Webb, as the pastor at Mt. Calvary Powerhouse Church, serves in the community in a variety of ways. He works with the SEMO Restoration Center, the Heartland Family Center and the Bridge the Gap initiative.

That initiative works to bridge the gap between the community and local law enforcement.

He received his call to service when he was 18 and a freshman on the Three Rivers Raiders men’s basketball team when he was given an opportunity to give a devotion to the players while at a tournament in Florida. He now serves on President Donald J. Trump’s National Faith-based Advisory Council.