Finalists change lives every day

The Daily American Republic recognized area Difference Makers on Thursday at the Black River Coliseum for the impact they make on the community.

This year’s finalists include: Jessica Billings with Current River Sheltered Workshop; LuWanna Forister with the Violet Patch gift shop at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center; Donna Gause, for her work with dog rescue; Judy Gregory, for her volunteer work with Risen Church and the Widow Women’s Society; Linda Martin, for her volunteer work with Naylor children; Craig Meador with the Poplar Bluff Severe Weather Response Team; Gary and Liesa Pennington with Doniphan for Football; Stacey Ritter with the Doniphan R-I School District; Amber Tyler with the Missouri Children’s Division; and Karen Vallow with the United Methodist Quilters.

The Difference Makers were nominated by family, friends, co-workers and others impacted by their work for personifying the qualities of charity, goodwill and generosity.

LuWanna Forister

Forister has worked at The Violet Patch gift shop at PBRMC since 2016, after spending 37 years working for the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and the Social Security Administration.

In the last five years, Forister has managed the gift shop and served as its auxiliary treasurer, volunteers with the gift shop have provided more than $60,000 in scholarships.

Forister began volunteering after her husband‘s death.

“I thought, I need to get out and be around people,” Forister said. “I happened to see an ad in the Daily American Republic where the hospital needed volunteers.”

Forister has made an impression on PBRMC employee Anita Hill, who nominated Forister as a Difference Maker.

Hill said, “I have never met anyone with a more perfect mixture of intelligence and common sense than LuWanna. She is the example I am modeling as I go through life.”

Donna Gause

Gause, a resident of Clarkton, is very passionate about helping animals in the area. She spends most of her weeks on the road, helping rescue dogs that are in need. Van Buren, Ellsinore, Arkansas, Poplar Bluff, Wappapello, Malden or wherever — the location doesn’t matter, just the need.

Gause estimates there are weeks when her gas bills top $500, especially recently with the spike in gas prices. It’s a cost funded from her own pocket, donations and St. Louis-based rescue groups, some of which provided the van she uses for transport.

When there is no home for the animals to stay in, Gause works with veterinarians and rescue groups to see the animal receives the medical care it needs and then is taken somewhere it will be loved until a new permanent home is found.

Poplar Bluff resident Lisa Wills nominated Gause as a Difference Maker.

“Donna is an exceptional person,” Wills said. “She goes above and beyond every single day to help the animals in the community and the surrounding areas with rescue transportation, vet visits and adoptions. I can only imagine what the fate of a lot of these puppies and dogs would’ve been if it wouldn’t have been for Donna stepping up.”

Judy Gregory

Gregory is a 36-year member of the Risen Church in Dexter, where she teaches Sunday school classes, is a clerk and sits on the church’s Board of Trustees. But those are just some of what she is involved in. She is also a member of the Widow Women’s Society in Dexter, plus she delivers Meals on Wheels, and takes part in the annual ecumenical Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner in March and ShareFest in the fall.

“There is a quote that Margret Mead said, ‘We are at our best when we are serving others,’” said Gregory, “and I think that’s true.”

Gregory also works with a program providing summer meals for children, plans a party for foster families during the Christmas season and packs shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse.

Gregory was nominated as a Difference Maker by Karen Peters.

“Her willingness to serve is the biggest thing,” Peters said. “She helps with so many projects in the community. I believe she deserves recognition for her many good works.”

Linda Martin

Martin, who spent nearly three decades working full-time as a teacher’s aide and secretary with Naylor R-II schools, said “kids have always been my passion.”

Even though she retired 15 years ago, Martin continues to work part-time for the district.

Martin’s daughter, Stacey Roach, nominated her as a Difference Maker.

“She wants to see Naylor succeed, so she spends a lot of time pouring herself into the school,” Roach said. “I don’t just say this because she is my mother, because even if she weren’t, she is great at what she does. She is a wealth of knowledge. It is amazing to all of us. She makes a huge difference.”

In addition to her work with Naylor schools, Martin has taught Sunday school at various churches since the early 1980s, and planned vacation Bible schools and student events for her local church countless times.

“She pours herself into kids,” Roach said. “She is known in our community for her Christlike spirit. Her goal in this life is not to leave a legacy, but like the Casting Crowns song says, ‘I don’t care if they remember me. Only Jesus.’”

Craig Meador

Meador and the nearly 20 members of the Poplar Bluff Severe Weather Response Team help keep an eye on the sky to keep area residents safe.

While the team often has a day or two of notice about a storm system approaching, they have to be ready for anything during any season. Spotters look for signs of a developing tornado, and report high winds, hail and heavy rain that could lead to flooding.

They report this information back to Meador, who relays that information to the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky.

The Severe Weather Response Team includes Keith Barry, Bob Crawford, Laramy Gregory, Jim Hager, Cody Martin, Roger Mattingly and Steve Seawright, among others. Like Meador, they are all volunteers.

“My guys will be ready at the drop of a hat,” Meador said.

Meador was nominated by his wife, April.

“He doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” April said. “To him, it’s not a big deal. It is who he is and what he does. It comes from his desire to keep people safe.”

Gary and Liesa Pennington

It was no small feat to bring high school football back to Doniphan — and the Penningtons were instrumental in getting football back into their community.

The Penningtons went to the Doniphan school board multiple times throughout the years and were denied every time up until 2016.

Two years later, the Dons took the field for the first time since 1979 at the newly built Brumitt Family Stadium. In February 2022, full control of the program was handed over to the Doniphan School District.

Since the program restarted, a few players have gone on to play college football, most recently Dawson Bishop, who just graduated in May and will be attending Cornell College this fall.

The Penningtons are still involved with the game day operations. Liesa is in the concession stand and Gary is up in the press box, running the scoreboard. Liesa also coaches youth cheerleading, while Gary coaches youth football.

The Penningtons were nominated as Difference Makers by Melissa Ferguson.

“(Gary and Liesa) were the first people we ran into when we moved to Doniphan,” said Melissa Ferguson, whose sons played for Doniphan football. “They are mentors to not only my kids, but to the entire town.”

Stacey Ritter

Ritter leads the DON’s Den (Discover, Observe, Nurture), an afterschool program for the Doniphan R-I School District that has 175 students ranging from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

Ritter said she loves working with the students at DON’s Den.

“I am a retired teacher, so this program allows me to work with children in a different setting and of all ages,” Ritter said. “The look on a child’s face is priceless when they are having fun learning. To help, we may teach subjects in a different way. We may have a cooking class to teach measurement. We also engage the parents in their child’s learning. We host family nights throughout the year and also hold family education nights.”

Ritter was nominated as a Difference Maker by April Black.

“Stacey has taken the DON’s Den program at Doniphan R-I School District and turned it into an amazing program for the kids and offers a huge service for working parents who struggle with before and after school care,” said April Black, who nominated Ritter as a 2022 Difference Maker. “Stacey makes the program an enjoyable learning experience that the kids absolutely love. She goes out of her way to help those families who need a little extra sometimes.”

Amber Tyler

Tyler, a social service specialist with Missouri Children’s Division, and her coworkers advocate for children entering foster care and also support families trying to reunite and get back on their feet after such events as mental illness or drug addiction. Tyler performs home visits and constantly communicates with guardian ad litems, the juvenile office, attorneys, doctors’ offices, the Family Counseling Center and more.

Tyler’s friend and CASA volunteer Janice Duckett, who nominated her as a Difference Maker, said Tyler continues to put in hours of care for the kids she represents when she leaves work. She makes herself available to families in her off hours, drives children to medical and counseling appointments and, more than that, spends time with them. When children are removed from their homes, she ensures they understand what is happening and the power they have during a stressful period in their young lives.

An excellent example is a book Tyler created for a foster child explaining her transition to the foster system and guardianship, complete with all the contact information for the team of advocates on the girl’s case. Tyler was named Employee of the Month in the Southeast region for this project.

“(The book) enabled that child to feel not only informed, but empowered and involved in what was happening in her own life,” Duckett said.

Karen Vallow

Vallow leads the multi-denominational United Methodist Quilters, a gathering of seamstresses who meet each month in her home to sew quilts for the local women’s recovery program, Recycling Grace.

The United Methodist Quilters once took a tour of a Recycling Grace facility. Vallow remembers when their guide, herself a graduate of the program, began praising the quilts she and other women received when they arrived, each one handmade and tagged with a Bible verse. Little did she know she was speaking to the quilters themselves.

“It touched our hearts, and touched her heart,” said Vallow.

Their work has great emotional value to its recipients.

“When they come, a lot of them have nothing but the clothes on their backs,” said quilter Vicky Hoover.

Each woman keeps their quilt during their stay and upon graduation from Recycling Grace.

Most of the United Methodist Quilters’ fabric comes from donations. Their all-time record is 26 boxes of cotton, flannel and more, which they used on their own projects and distributed among other local sewing clubs, who made tote bags and reusable sanitary pads.

Vallow’s friend Mary Shock nominated her as a Difference Maker.

“There’s so much thought put into every one,” she said.