V A step forward CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT The Derek Chauvin trial was played out like a movie over the last three weeks. Reminiscent of the O.J. Simpson trial, viewers learned a lot about polic ing, the inner workings of our judicial system, and some medical terms. On Tuesday, April 20, the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial found him guilty on all three counts. While the verdict may look like justice, it’s fair to say that real justice would have spared George Floyd’s life. The guilty verdict is more representative of account ability. In a statement, former President Barak Obama said the verdict was a step forward. “In this case, at least, we have our answer. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, we know that true justice is about much more than a single verdict in a single trial,” the for mer president stated. “True justice requires that we come to terms with the fact that Black Ameri cans are treated differently, every day. It requires us to recognize that millions of our friends, family, and fellow citizens live in fear that their next en counter with law enforce ment could be their last. George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020 after an encounter with the Minnesota Police Department. Almost a year later, Derek Chauvin was found guilty on three counts for Floyd’s murder. And it requires us to do the sometimes thankless, often difficult, but always necessary work of mak ing the America we know more like the America we believe in. “While today’s verdict may have been a necessary step on the road to prog ress, it was far from a suf ficient one. We cannot rest. We will need to follow through with the concrete reforms that will reduce and ultimately eliminate racial bias in our criminal justice system. We will need to redouble efforts to expand economic opportu nity for those communities that have been too long marginalized.” Floyd’s daughter, Gi ¬ anna’s words were almost prophetic 11 months ago, “My dad changed the world.” Local nonprofits celebrate volunteers during National Volunteer Appreciation Week BY JUDIE HOLCOMB-PACK THE CHRONICLE This week we salute all volunteers and thank them for their generous and un selfish service to our com munity. If nothing else, the pandemic and its accom panying shut-down has taught us how vital vol unteers are and how much their services are needed to keep our nonprofits func tioning. The pandemic forced many of our local nonprof its to change how they pro vided services, eliminating many volunteer positions. Now that more people are getting vaccinated and restrictions are being re laxed, nonprofits are re viewing their volunteer needs and celebrating their volunteers that have hung in there with them over the past year. Even though many of their volunteers were “sidelined” for most of 2020, the Shepherd’s Cen ter of Greater Winston- Salem thanked their vol unteers with a drive-thru event on Tuesday, April 20, handing out coffee, donuts, and a small gift to recognize their “faithful, wonderful, hardworking and steadfast volunteers,” as Vicki Poore, communi ty outreach/volunteer co ordinator, described them. Some volunteers have been able to work virtu- aliy, such as the Card Con nection, check-in phone calls, andleaders of groups that could pivot to Zoom. The volunteers working on preparing for the book sale, which will be held in September, worked on site, following CDC protocols of face masks and social distancing. Poore predict ed, “There is light at the end of the tunnel” and she expects all their volunteers will be back “before sum mer gets into full swing.” www.wschronicle.com ft rt * in © A a Photo by Judie Holcomb-Pack Interns Destiny Saunders (left) and Jada Gray talk with volunteer Paul McGraw about their project at the Shepherd Center’s volunteer appreciation event. Crisis Control Minis try also honored their vol unteers during this week. Abbey McCall, director of community and volunteer relations, said that they have been slowly bring ing back volunteers and that about 60% of volun teers are now serving cli ents. The free pharmacy and food pantry are fully staffed, although they are limiting the number of clients they can see. Vol unteers are doing phone rather than in-person client interviews. To celebrate their vol unteers, they are offering breakfast and lunch items in their volunteer lounge all week. Their Kerners ville location held a drive- thru event on Tuesday where volunteers picked up goody bags donated by Mast General Store, filled with donated items such as cookies from Baked Just So and coupons from Cafe Gelato and Moji Coffee, among others. McCall said that dur ing the months they were closed, the staff handled the duties normally per formed by volunteers. “It made us appreciate our volunteers!” she comment ed. In normal times, Crisis Control needs about 288 volunteers per week to do all the activities necessary to keep the ministry oper ating. “I think we have the most incredible volunteer base at Crisis Control,” re marked McCall. “All were very understanding when we had to close our doors, and they have stayed in contact and engaged with us.” Samaritan Ministries will thank their volunteers with a festive drive-thru celebration on Sunday af ternoon. The event will include music, treats, give- aways, and prizes for each car that drives through. This is a special year as Samaritan celebrates 40 years of service in the community and 40 years of volunteers helping Samari tan fulfill its mission. Samaritan’s volunteer needs have changed since the onset of the pandemic, but they still need help daily to provide meals to their guests. Currently, they need eight volunteers every day to help prepare and serve to-go lunches and two volunteers every evening to help with din ner preparation. For more information on volunteer ing, visit www.samaritan- forsyth.org. Holly Beck, volunteer and community engage- See Volunteer on A8

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