Community celebrates Difference Makers

“All these Difference Makers who are here and are not here, but are out there … they are the people who push our work in a different direction, not the direction that I want but the direction that God intended,” Father Daniel Robles with the Sacred Heart Catholic Church said before starting a prayer Thursday night.

The Daily American Republic celebrated its first Difference Makers award at the Holiday Inn with approximately 200 community members to recognize some of those who have made a significant impact on the community through volunteer work.

The 10 finalists were nominated by co-workers, friends and associates who have seen the impact these people are making. Qualities focused on were charity, goodwill and generosity.

Keynote speaker Janet McNece, who has done a significant amount of volunteer work, defined Difference Makers as creative people who don’t want recognition for what they do, but rather do it because it’s the right thing to do.

“Tonight is about celebrating your efforts,” McNece said. “The things that they possess and the thing that they use is their time.”

Of the finalists, Becky Winters was given the Difference Maker of the Year award for her creation and continued work on the Project Christmas Promise, which provides roughly 1,200 children in the Poplar Bluff, Twin Rivers and Neelyville school districts with Christmas gifts.

“I stand on the shoulders of a lot of great people, many of whom are in the room tonight,” Winters said. “It’s important to remember that the blessings that you offer will come back to you three times.”

As part of the mission of the event, to celebrate and give back to the community, the Daily American Republic recognized the United Gospel Rescue Mission. The DAR donated $3,633.60 to the Rescue Mission. Along with the check, the Rescue Mission also received $181 from donations from attendees, for catering the event.

Pastor Gregory Kirk with the Rescue Mission looked shocked when the amount donated was announced.

“You’ve finally got me speechless,” he said.

Kirk has been with the Rescue Mission for almost 14 years. When he first moved here, he knew nobody but he said “now I think I know everybody in this room and everybody else in this town as well.”

The Rescue Mission is focused on taking care of the men who, through circumstances of life, have fallen through the cracks of society. This is done through the New Life Program, which offers help to men dealing with alcohol or drug addiction through gospel teachings. This program is free for the men who participate in it and is run completely through donations such as the one received Thursday night.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make Poplar Bluff a better place,” Kirk said.

This is the first year the DAR has put on the Difference Makers program, but the goal is for it to not be the last.

“If you ask them (the nominees), they’d probably tell you this evening makes them very uncomfortable,” DAR Publisher Chris Pruett said. “But the DAR believes we need these types of volunteers and without them a lot of things in our community wouldn’t get done.”

Along with the DAR, sponsors for the event were: The Bank of Missouri, Quality Air, Pack’s Do-It Center, Southern Bank, Smith & Company, Poplar Bluff Schools, First Midwest Bank, Godfather’s Pizza, Donut House, Barker’s Towing, Ellis Battery, Holiday Inn and Sterling Bank.

Dale Dickerson, a representative from First Midwest Bank, said he was proud to be part of the inaugural Difference Makers event and that these examples of service are “a nice slice of what Poplar Bluff is about.”

Dickerson and Pruett, along with other speakers throughout the night, said one common thread among the nominees; they don’t ask for this recognition, but they deserve to receive it.

“The people we are honoring tonight are the type of people who don’t see recognition,” Pruett said. “They would much rather be behind the scenes, helping with an event, instead of being front and center. They do their volunteer work not got recognition, but because it needs done.”