The Rotary Club of Effingham County held the 15th Annual Herb Jones Volunteer of the Year Awards Banquet Thursday night at the New Ebenezer Retreat Center, where Tiffany Altman was named as the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year.

Rotary Club President Dan Burkhalter gave the Welcome and Introductions with Herb Jones leading the attendees in the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance before dinner began, which was catered by New Ebenezer.

Following the dinner, Rotary Club members Toni Hardigree and Ryan Waters recognized the volunteers who were nominated.

Among this year’s nominees were Tiffany Altman (Rincon Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization), Butch Clark (Manna House Ministries), Mike Corley (Family Promise of Effingham), Ernie and Linda Fortson (God’s Mission House), Belinda Garland (Sand Hill Elementary School), the Rincon Garden Club, John Thompson (Faith Equestrian Therapeutic Center) and Sid Warner (Effingham County 4-H).

Altman was named the Volunteer of the Year after being nominated by her peers.

In their letter of nomination, they explained that Altman was very deserving of the award for her work with the PTO.

“(Tiffany’s) strong dedication to PTO has made a tremendous impact on the students, parents and teachers at Rincon Elementary,” the letter said. “With the remarkable amount of time she volunteers to our school, she has significantly increased school funding through fundraising, increased our parent volunteering, and shown our faculty and staff appreciation through meals, gifts and a warm smile.”

They added that Altman also helped with Teacher Appreciation Week and the Boosterthon Fun Run.

The first runner-up for the Volunteer of the Year was Butch Clark.

Clark’s peers at Manna House Minstries nominated him because of all of his hard work delivering food to those in need.

“In 2014, Butch was involved in a car accident that nearly took his life,” their letter said. “Now, he drives our truck each day and is responsible for picking up food donations. This past year, Butch picked up 463,000 pounds of food from our partners.”

The second runner-up was John Thompson.

Thompson was nominated by his peers at the Faith Equestrian Therepeutic Center for the hard work he does in helping children with special needs enjoy the thrill of getting to ride a horse.

“John has been a faithful volunteer at Faith Equestrian since October 2015 - he began volunteering when his daughter started in our school program and he continues to serve us faithfully,” their letter said. “John is always eager to help out with whatever is needed and always asks how he can help.”