Latest news with #MaryL.JonesBlackAffirmationAward
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
LaDonna Doleman serving community one meal at a time
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Feeding the hungry is something LaDonna Doleman, who is the recipient of the Mary L. Jones Black Affirmation Award for the month of April, says she was born to do. Doleman chats with WJBF about being grateful to have the opportunity to serve the community one meal at a time. So, I've been doing hospitality for years, but I've been with Golden Harvest [Food Bank] for going on seven years grandfather, back in the days, would go on holidays, and he would cook for the community. He would go out, and he would take a hog or whatever we had, and he would break it down and would cook it all night. Then, any and everybody on our block was able to come down and share that meal. So, it was just in my system, in my blood. So, when I came to Golden Harvest, I came as a chef but ended up as the manager. I just love serving people every day. ALSO ON WJBF: Theron Cartwright learning Augusta history while creating historical artwork | March CBE365 Affirmation Award Winner Yes, on a daily basis, we serve up to 200 to 300 people daily. For the month of March, we did a total of 5,142 a typical day starts off early in the morning. We get there and open up the building. We have our first sets of volunteers that come in at 8:30, so those volunteers will come in at 8:30, and they will have the set up. They will prepare the meal for the day. For example, when we have spaghetti, they will come in, they'll cut the bread up, they'll do the salad and what not and will get the fruit and stuff prepared. Then, from 10:30 to 12:30, we have another group of volunteers to come in, and then they will help us serve. So, then we will open up our doors at 11:00, and then we will serve all the way to important. God wants us to be cheerful givers and great neighbors, and Downtown Augusta is a desert food area. There is no grocery store downtown. MCG brought that parking lot, and so food right now is a big issue. Hunger is a big issue. So, to be able to get up every day, to be able to serve my community in a way that is safe and nutritious, I love it. ALSO ON WJBF: Xtreme Hip Hop instructor Brittany Jenkins bringing awareness to autism with stepping So, all they have to do is just go to click on volunteer experience, and then after that, they can find whatever buildings that they want to. We have other buildings also: the produce center, my building, which is the Master's Table Soup Kitchen, and we have a building in Aiken that you can also go and work at. They just select your days and select your hours that you would like to come, and they I am grateful that I'm able to do it every day. Some people don't get to serve people on an everyday basis, but for me, every day, I get to change someone's life every day. We are out to just help any and everyone that we can. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Janice Livingston honored with Black Excellence 365's Mary L. Jones Black Affirmation Award
BLACKVILLE, S.C. (WJBF) — WJBF NewsChannel 6's Black Excellence 365 recognizes inspiring black individuals and organizations in the CSRA throughout the year. Recipients are honored with the Mary L. Jones Black Affirmation Award. For March, we honor Janice 69 years, Janice Livingston has called Blackville, South Carolina home. And for just as long, she's been dedicated to lifting up the people around her. 'We care about each other. We love each other,' she shared. We are concerned of each other, and we want everyone to be successful.'That commitment to service shines through her work. She spent 26 years leading Girl Scout Troop 765—without missing a single meeting. She made sure her scouts experienced the world. 'We've been in the White House twice. We've been to Tuskegee Institution; we've been to Pettus Bridge. We walked across the Pettus Bridge. We've all also gone to a Broadway play,' she recalled. She wanted the girls to learn by seeing. 'When they read these stories in school, I wanted them to say, oh, we've been there. We did that. I wanted them to have those firsthand experiences of those activities,' Livingston shared. Her impact goes beyond that. For the last 22 years, she's led the Together Sisters Club. It's a community service group focused on giving back. They host fish fries for vets, Easter egg hunts for kids, and lend a hand during the holidays. 'At Christmas, we do a Christmas bingo where we bring in prizes that parents that may not have money to buy presents for their family, but we supply them with gifts that they could possibly use for their Christmas gifts,' she added. That mission hasn't changed, but how they serve has evolved. 'We do more drive through activities. It's not really a one-on-one, because of COVID, but we still provide those services every month.'Her love for her community extends beyond service—it's in the way she builds connections. 'My philosophy is to always try to do something that will make someone smile. I don't wanna see anyone upset. What you offer is good and what I'm offering and is good. And we put those two things together. We got a wonderful ingredient.' She's even turned her own home into a place where friends and family can come kids outgrew the basketball court, so she turned it into the Bristol Lounge. 'In that lounge we socialize and have fun. We play games, we just talk about old times. We just come together and fellowship. And of course we always have a meal. We gotta eat, got to eat, gotta eat .' Livingston, an educator for more than 30 years, says young people hold the key to a better future. 'If you listen more, you learn more. And once you get it in your, the education in your head, no one can take that away from you. Because education is the key to anything. And always learn to be kind to one another.'Even in retirement, she's not slowing down. 'I've been to Greece, I've been to Dubai, I've been to Paris, so I've seen some, but I need to see more. There's more out there for me to experience and to just be a part of, to see God's creation.'Throughout her work, one thing stays constant—her mission to bring people shaping young minds to building a stronger community, Janice Livingston has spent decades making a difference. And that's why she's honored with this month's Black Affirmation Award. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
