AARP Alabama Recognizes Shelby County resident with its most prestigious volunteer award for community service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 11, 2020

CONTACT: Jamie Harding, 205-470-1265, JHarding@aarp.org

Montgomery -- Faye LaCagnina of Maylene has been selected to receive the 2020 AARP Alabama Andrus Award for Community Service, the Association’s most prestigious and visible annual state volunteer award for community service.

Mrs. LaCagnina has been serving people in the Shelby County area since she moved to Alabama from New York to be close to her children and grandchildren. Although the pandemic has curtailed many of her regular volunteer efforts, the 83 year-old Mrs. LaCagnina still fills her days helping others. Each morning she carves out time to send cards and make phone calls to RSVP members on their birthdays at her own expense. She calls her project “Birthday Call Operation.”  It’s one way she can check in on people to make sure they have what they need. She also prepares hot meals for shut-ins and others who are struggling, sometimes cooking meals for two or three families a night.

Prior to the pandemic, Mrs. LaGagnina volunteered at the Shelby Baptist Medical Center, where she helped patients’ families for 13 years. She also was a familiar face in several of Shelby County’s nursing homes, where she regularly visited residents, and worked with several veterans programs.

In addition to the Andrus Award, Mrs. LaGagnina has received numerous awards for her volunteer service and is a member of the Senior Citizen Hall of Fame. Her story was highlighted in a Central Alabama United Way video demonstrating how one person can inspire others through volunteer service.

“This award acts as a symbol to the public that we can all work together for positive social change,” says Candi Williams, AARP Alabama state director. “AARP has long valued the spirit of volunteerism and the important contributions volunteers make to their communities, neighbors, and the programs they serve.”

Recipients across the nation were chosen for their ability to enhance the lives of AARP members and prospective members, improve the community in or for which the work was performed, and inspire others to volunteer.

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