AG senior honored for community service
(Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of 10 stories)
What started as an obligation for Jacob Horne has sparked a passion for serving others that Horne hopes will catch fire in his community.
The Albert Gallatin senior admittedly got involved with community service to meet his graduation requirements. But when Horne saw the gratitude in the faces of those he served, he realized there was more to volunteering than logging hours.
“Somewhere along the line something changed. I started to like the feeling I got by helping out people that needed it the most,” said Horne, the son of Davie and Marie Horne. “Even something as small as cleaning out an older lady’s flower bed made me happy because it really meant a lot to them.”
As a member of the National Honor Society, Horne continued to seek out opportunities to give back to the local community — and those a little further from home. Recently, Horne participated in a service trip to Tennessee where he and members of his church volunteered at a center for widows and orphans.
Horne saw first hand how much can be accomplished when people work together to serve others. Not only did Horne and his team give of themselves to the center but also volunteered to do maintenance on the director’s home.
“He sacrifices most of his time to make sure that all the women living there have everything that they need,” Horne said of the center’s full-time volunteer. “People that devote all of their time to helping others could always use a helping hand.”
When Horne returned to Fayette County, he made a point to share his experience with his local community in hopes of inspiring others to find ways to lend a hand.
“I love the feeling I get from helping, but I want to see more people pitch in to make this world a better place. We need to give back to the people who are hurting,” said Horne, who has a 3.5 grade-point average and plans to study pre-law at Waynesburg University.
For his community service efforts both locally and in Tennessee, Horne has been awarded the Fayette County Community All-Star Award. He’s among 10 local students being honored for putting forth an extra effort to make a difference in their communities.
Participants include Albert Gallatin, Brownsville Area, Frazier, Connellsville Area, Geibel, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown Area high schools, along with Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, Laurel Business Institute and the Pennsylvania Institute of Health and Technology.
Each school selects its own award winner based on the student’s community service endeavors over the last three years. Students must have a minimum 3.25 grade-point average.
Under the program’s guidelines, a $500 check will be sent to Waynesburg University for Horne. The students can also receive a matching grant from the Community Foundation of Fayette County, depending on certain requirements.
The students will be honored at a 7:30 a.m. breakfast Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Uniontown. The guest speaker will be Mark Skoric, president and CEO of Upper Room Inc. Ben Wright will be the master of ceremonies.
Sponsors include HeraldStandard.com, Joe Hardy, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Dave and Linda Meredith, Community Foundation of Fayette County, Paul and Shelly Songer, Uniontown Rotary, Abby’s Gold and Gems, Russell Blaho, Coldwell Banker, Laurel Ridge Realty, Dan Evans, Hartsek’s Catering, Jim and Libby Gismondi, Kisiel and Associates PC, James Saul, Sepic Orthodontics, Martha Brownfield, Larry and Carol George, Leda Gismondi, Jeanne Moore, Debbie and Tim Seeger, Slavik’s Inc., Ben and Barbara Wright, the Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus Alumni Society, Cher-O-Kee Recycling, Upper Room Inc., United Bank and Jes Hutson.
Members of the Scholarship Committee are Katie Semans, Paul Bortz Jr., Cindy Digga, John Evans, Leda Gismondi, Dave Meredith, Jim Saul, Skoric and Hutson.
They will select a captain who will receive an extra $100.
This is the ninth year for the program, which was started in 2004.