Heber Springs named Volunteer Community of the Year — again

Ina Brown, second from right, special projects manager for the Heber Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, holds the 2014 Volunteer Community of the Year plaque, which was presented Jan. 15 by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, right, at a luncheon during the Arkansas Municipal League Conference at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Also pictured are Sherry Middleton, director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Community Service and Nonprofit Support, and Heber Springs Mayor Jimmy Clark.
Ina Brown, second from right, special projects manager for the Heber Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, holds the 2014 Volunteer Community of the Year plaque, which was presented Jan. 15 by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, right, at a luncheon during the Arkansas Municipal League Conference at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Also pictured are Sherry Middleton, director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Community Service and Nonprofit Support, and Heber Springs Mayor Jimmy Clark.

HEBER SPRINGS — As many times as Heber Springs has been named Volunteer Community of the Year — more than a dozen — it never gets old, said Ina Brown, special projects manager for the Heber Springs Area Chamber of Commerce.

The award was presented by Gov. Asa Hutchinson at a luncheon on Jan. 15, during an Arkansas Municipal League Conference at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

“It’s all so much fun. It was presented by the governor — I shook the governor’s hand twice,” Brown said with a laugh.

She said Heber Springs has received the honor, “15 or 16 times,” but not consecutively. The Arkansas Volunteer Community Awards are sponsored by the Governor’s Office, the Arkansas Municipal League and the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Community Service and Nonprofit Support.

“It’s really competitive,” Brown said. She said only 12 cities receive the honor, and all Arkansas cities are eligible to apply. She said community representatives are not told how many applications are submitted.

Heber Springs had 9,430 volunteers — “we call them heroes,” Brown said — with a total of 226,908 volunteer hours. Some volunteers serve in multiple organizations, she said.

The chamber also received the Volunteer Community of the Year honor last year, when the chamber had 280,000 volunteer hours and 7,143 volunteers.

Brown chalked up the additional volunteer hours to the establishment of three or four new organizations being formed, and a flurry of volunteerism for them.

The application process can be daunting, said Julie Murray, executive director of the Heber Springs Area Chamber of Commerce.

“What people don’t realize is the huge amount of work it takes leading up to the application submission, because you have to apply to be considered,” Murray said. “It’s a ton of work gathering up all the information, gathering up volunteer hours, … getting pictures of [the city’s] key events and putting the application together.”

In addition to Brown, chamber volunteers Glenda Hillard and Chris Stafiej spent months calling all the nonprofit agencies in Heber Springs to compile the volunteer hours, Murray said.

“You can’t do it with just one phone call per agency,” she said. “It’s three, four or five phone calls.”

Brown said only nonprofit organizations or groups that have a governing board are included in reporting volunteer hours.

“You don’t just pull them out of the air,” she said. “We have over 80 organizations that foster projects and programs in this area.”

For example, she said, one of the Rotary Clubs cleared brush and tree trunks to make an access to Bridal Veil Falls, and the Heber Springs Parks and Recreation Department created an overlook so people who can’t make the trek to the site can enjoy it.

Brown and Stafiej racked up volunteer hours, too.

Brown, who has lived in Heber Springs since 2000, has also been honored as a volunteer with the chamber. “Volunteerism is my thing,” she said.

Stafiej said she contributed 200-plus hours to the chamber last year, and she is a member of four or five clubs. Stafiej said she has been honored for volunteerism in the past by the chamber and the Lions Club.

In addition to the chamber’s major volunteer-run events — the World Championship Cardboard Boat Races and the Fireworks Extravaganza — Murray named several organizations that have volunteer activities: The Arkansas Dream Center, the Cleburne County Library, the Rotary Club, the Heber Springs School District, Opal’s House and more.

Newly elected Mayor Jimmy Clark attended the conference and was at the luncheon when the award was announced.

“We have a lot of volunteers at the hospital, volunteers for the chamber, Master Gardeners program, Breaking Bread, our Haven House, and I could go on and on about different organizations. They help the needy, and help the city and county,” Clark said. “It’s very humbling.”

Murray said that historically, the Heber Springs Area Chamber of Commerce’s staff is responsible for submitting the application, although it is not that way in every community.

The honor is a feather in the community’s cap, she said.

“It’s great publicity for our town. We like to show it off — it makes for a great place to live,” she said. “This isn’t my achievement; it’s [the volunteers’] and the city’s. I haven’t been here long enough to contribute that much to it.”

Murray said the chamber found out in November about the award but waited to announce it on Facebook.

“It’s more fun to post it once you get the plaque and the governor’s in the picture,” she said, laughing.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 472-9708 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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