Dr. Barbara Carpenter has been selected for the 2008 Governor’s Initiative for Volunteer Excellence (GIVE) Award for Achievement in Volunteer Service in the Arts and Humanities. She will be honored at the 16th Annual GIVE Awards Ceremony at noon on April 25, 2008 at the Jackson Marriott for her tireless work to build intellectual capital and develop individual humanities and arts capacity for the state. The awards are presented by the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service, Governor Haley Barbour, and First Lady Marsha Barbour.
"The GIVE Awards are a powerful reminder of Mississippi citizens whose spirit of generosity and goodwill is essential to their communities," said Marsha Meeks Kelly, executive director of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service.
Barbara Carpenter, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, has served Mississippi for three decades as a humanities professional. She has given of personal time and energy to mentor individuals and create networks in ways that have helped Mississippi strengthen its capacity for arts and humanities. In the wake of Katrina, having known first hand the struggles of many small ethnic groups in the state, Carpenter realized that groups, which had contributed substantively to the rich cultural heritage of Mississippi, could quickly disperse and disappear. She organized what came to be known as
Culture Clubs, bringing together leaders from state agencies along with representatives from various ethnic groups to discuss needs and provide guidance on how to obtain help to meet basic needs.
Her most valuable volunteer effort is her tireless work to build intellectual capital and develop individual humanities and arts capacity for the state. These are efforts that are slow to sprout, slow to grow and slow to bloom. But the fruits of these efforts will provide the state with sustenance for more than a generation to come.
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