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Some
of us only dream of meeting
the President of the United
States, and on Mon., Nov. 1,
this dream became a reality
for Joan Roth, volunteer
coordinator, Westmoreland
Hospice. Roth was invited by
The White House to
participate as the official
greeter in the name of
VOLUNTEERISM for Western
Pennsylvania.
She
was given the honor of
greeting President George W.
Bush as he disembarked from
Air Force One on his recent
visit to the area. Roth’s
picture was taken with the
President and she, then,
rode in the presidential
motorcade to a rally in
Burgettstown, PA. Totally
taken by surprise with this
honor, Roth described her
elation. “I volunteer in
many things and certainly my
past 23 years as a hospice
volunteer coordinator have
been completely focused on
volunteers, but never in my
wildest dreams did I ever
think that this would
happen.
Further demonstrating her
selflessness, Roth goes on
to thank others. “To all of
you who touch my life in so
many different ways — thank
you. You made this possible
and I will do my best to
represent your efforts in
the finest way. I am so
excited, amazed and truly
humbled that this is
happening to me.”
Addie
Beighley, director,
Westmoreland County Juvenile
Probation, nominated Roth
for this outstanding
volunteer service honor
based on her extensive work
with children. Roth, a
life-long volunteer, has
been active in numerous
volunteer capacities. She
has served on the United Way
Allocations Committee and as
a United Way speaker, is a
Salvation Army board member
for the Greensburg corps and
has served with the
Greensburg Youth Commission
for 19 years.
Throughout her volunteer
tenure, Roth has received
numerous awards and
recognition. Among her
accolades are the 1997
Westmoreland County
Outstanding Volunteer of the
Year award, a 2001 Athena
award nomination, and the
recent recognitions by
President George W. Bush.
Perhaps Roth’s crowning
achievement is her work with
Westmoreland Hospice. She
worked in a volunteer
capacity from its inception
in 1981 for two years and
then, transitioned into the
volunteer coordinator
position. At that time,
hospice was part of
Westmoreland Home Health
Care, which later became a
service of Westmoreland
Regional Hospital. Roth is
among more than 350
individuals around the
country since March 2002 who
have answered the call to
volunteer service, and who
have received the honor of
meeting President Bush.
President Bush, in his
commitment to volunteerism,
has called on all Americans
to volunteer two years or
4,000 hours over the course
of their lifetimes, and he
created USA Freedom Corps to
help foster a culture of
service, citizenship and
responsibility. Through USA
Freedom Corps, President
Bush wants to help every
American answer the Call to
Service by strengthening and
expanding service
opportunities to protect our
homeland, support our
communities, and extend
American compassion around
the world.
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