Cleveland, Tenn., resident Connie Wright smiles while talking with reporters at the home of Laverne and Robert Lee. Ms. Wright helped the Lees recover after their home was completely destroyed by a tornado.Cleveland, Tenn., resident Connie Wright smiles while talking with reporters at the home of Laverne and Robert Lee. Ms. Wright helped the Lees recover after their home was completely destroyed by a tornado.ABOUT THE AWARDSSince 1972, the Jefferson Awards recognizing volunteerism have been presented on the local and national levels. Each year a national winner is selected in four categories: Elected or public officials, private citizens, people benefiting the disadvantaged and individuals 35 or younger. The final winner of Chattanooga’s Jefferson Awards will attend the national awards program in Washington, D.C., this spring.TO NOMINATEVisit www.timesfreepress.com or www.WRCBTV.com to fill out an online nomination form.
Before the neighborhoods and stores in Bradley and McMinn counties needed rebuilding, before insurance companies were on speed dial and chain saws buzzed sunrise to sunset, Connie Wright’s life was fairly quiet.
Her children were grown, living away from home. At 59, she and her husband — the man she fell in love with in college — had settled into an easy rhythm after her retirement from church work five years ago.
She helped out at church, gave money when she could, but was always looking for ways to get closer to people with messy situations and costly needs. Then in April, when tornados ripped through the region, she walked out her front door and was in the thick of it.
“I just had to be get up and go,” said Wright, a recipient of a 2012 Jefferson Award. “For me, for my Christian faith … that was what I was required to do. Get up and go.”