VOLUNTEERS WILL BE HONORED TUESDAY; RUST WILL KEYNOTE

Three area citizens and a group will be recognized for their grassroots community service Tuesday at the sixth annual Bell Volunteer Awards luncheon. It will be held at the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

The luncheon will pay tribute to some of the most unsung heroes of the area, said Craig Felzien, area manager of Southwestern Bell community relations. "These people don't do volunteer work in order to be recognized. They place service above self."

Felzien expects about 120 people to attend the luncheon, which includes past winners, all volunteers who were nominated and those who nominated them, as well as local and state elected officials.

The keynote speaker will be Jon K. Rust, assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.

Rust is a Morehead Scholar and North Carolina Fellow at the University of North Carolina. He graduated in 1991 with degrees in English Literature and Russian and Eastern European Area Studies.

He coordinates the Youth Education Literacy and Learning (YELL) program for the Southeast Missourian as well as its Indian Alumni Shootout, which benefits the Cape Girardeau Civic Center. He also serves on the board of the Civic Center.

The recognition lunch is always scheduled during National Volunteer Week. This marks the sixth annual Bell Volunteer Awards in Cape Girardeau.

More than 35 nominations were received of grassroots volunteer efforts throughout the region, said Felzien.

"Until you start reading the nominations and talking with all these volunteers, you don't realize the tens of thousands of hours volunteers give for many worthwhile projects and programs," he said. "It's always amazing to the judges what kind of quality volunteer work force we have. It's not just senior citizens - we honor volunteers from youth to 80 and 90 years old."