Volunteers Honored for Helping Improve Lives of Others

As a child, Kelly Jo Barnwell recalls going to work with her mom and watching as she led a room full of older adults through gentle exercises.

Linda Jo Brown had been the first director of the Anderson County Senior Citizens Program, a position she held from 1981 to 1993. Now, Barnwell is nearly two decades into the same role her mother had, leading a team of volunteers who teach activities from quilting to line dancing.

Barnwell also revived the Golden Years Jamboree, her mother’s signature event, which brings people together each year for music, dancing and camaraderie. And like her mom, Barnwell teaches exercise to some 80 people each week. “It was always a beautiful thing, the connection that mama had,” Barnwell says.

Barnwell is one of four inaugural recipients of AARP South Carolina’s Community Impact Award, which recognizes people improving the lives of older adults through community service, kindness and leadership. The other recipients:

• Debora Hayes, who rallied Richland County law enforcement to reduce isolation among the county’s older residents.
• Bob Zucker of Hilton Head, for his work to reduce hunger in the state’s Lowcountry.
• Karen Patterson of Barnwell, for her work as AARP South Carolina’s Driver Safety statewide coordinator.