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Service Indiana Honors Bloomington Meals On Wheels, Reova Meredith, Carlee LaRue

Last updated on Monday, November 27, 2017

(BLOOMINGTON) - The State of Indiana, through its volunteer service commission, Serve Indiana, selected eight outstanding Hoosiers and organizations to be recognized for service to the community. The Serve Indiana Awards for Excellence are Indiana’s most prestigious annual awards celebrating the accomplishments of dedicated volunteers and service members.

Nominations were submitted from around the state, and the winners were selected by a panel of Serve Indiana Commissioners, community volunteers and previous award winners. Winners were celebrated with an awards ceremony on Nov. 9, 2017, at the Indiana State House where more than 70 guests joined the celebration.

The following local individuals and organization received a 2017 Serve Indiana Awards for Excellence award:

Volunteer Program Award

Bloomington Meals on Wheels, founded in 1973, provides nutritious meals to homebound people who are unable to cook for themselves due to illness, injury or disability. More than 200 volunteer drivers deliver over 1,500 meals each month to our MOW clients. In partnership with IU Health Bloomington & Meadowood Retirement Center, our volunteers ensure that our clients receive two nutritious meals a day. Volunteers donate their time and their vehicle to deliver meals to those who would otherwise find it difficult to shop and cook for themselves. MOW also reduces healthcare costs by allowing our clients to remain in their homes. Bloomington Meals on Wheels could not exist without their dedicated volunteers that help keep the cost of our program affordable for our clients.

Faith-Based Volunteer Award

Reova Meredith left the teaching profession in 1989 to found the Center for Women's Ministries, Inc, a not-for-profit, faith-based, peer counseling organization serving any woman at no charge. Reova served as the full-time volunteer center director from 1989-97, and then moved into the executive director position as a full-time volunteer upon establishment of corporate headquarters in March 1997. She has seen development from one peer counseling center in Bloomington to up to 34 local centers established in eight states (15 in Indiana), and in six foreign countries on four continents; there are additional counties, states and countries organizing to open counseling centers. Thousands of clients and their families have benefited from improved emotional and spiritual health through Center for Women's Ministries over the last nearly 30 years, fostered by Reova's vision and faithfulness.

National Service Member Award

Carlee LaRue graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2016 and spent a full AmeriCorps term serving with Healthy Schools Corps in Richland Bean Blossom Community Schools. During her term of service, Carlee has hosted wellness council meetings, ran the Junior High nutrition club, installed ten herb gardens in local school cafeterias, and has written and received multiple playground development grants. She also created a Heart Health Field Day for the Junior High and a Cardio Club for one of the local elementary schools. After her AmeriCorps term ended, Carlee began working as a Prevention Specialist for the Community Capacity for Prevention and Education grant project based out of Centerstone.

About Serve Indiana

Serve Indiana, a division of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, strives to be a statewide public champion for service, a strong local, regional and national partner, an efficient grant maker, and a broker of new and increased federal and state resources allocated towards service and volunteerism. Serve Indiana's mission is to advance service and volunteerism by informing, connecting, and promoting opportunities and resources that enrich the lives of Hoosiers. For more information, visit www.ServeIndiana.gov.

About the Indiana Department of Workforce Development

DWD serves the worker and the employer to ensure workplace success. DWD is committed to innovating and invigorating Indiana's economic future by providing WorkOne Career Centers, Unemployment Insurance, Labor Market Information, Regional Workforce Strategies and Professional Training. Through these services, DWD is able to develop a premier workforce that enables Indiana employers to flourish and entices businesses from outside our state to relocate to Indiana.

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