Midtown Rotary Volunteer of the Year
President David Zimmerman, Leotha Womble and Barbara Rose.

Yesterday, I attended the annual awards lunch to honor Midtown’s most dedicated and hard working volunteers.

The program was filled with quotes — some popular, some obscure — about volunteering and community service. My favorite is from Tom Brokaw who said, “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot harder to make a difference.”

We had a roomful of people who have made a difference in Midtown so the decision to select the Volunteer of the Year must have been a challenging one for those on the selection committee.

Ultimately, Midtown Atlanta Rotary Club chose to honor Leotha Womble as the 2010 Barbara B. Rose Volunteer of the Year.

Leotha volunteers with the Center for the Visually Impaired where she has served 30 years, including contributions such as teaching Braille, serving as a mentor, providing childcare and helping establish the Center’s Open Window Book reading group to promote Braille literacy.

Since 1996 she has devoted more than 3,500 hours to the after-school enrichment program as a tutor; Braille instructor; assistant in Activities of Daily Living and group fitness classes; serving as a positive adult role model in the STARS Mentor Program; and chaperoning weekend events.

This is the fourth consecutive year Midtown Atlanta Rotary Club has named a Volunteer of the Year in honor of Rotarian Barbara Rose. The Center for the Visually Impaired is Georgia’s largest comprehensive, fully accredited, private facility providing rehabilitation services for individuals of all ages who are blind or visually impaired.

Leotha was previously honored by 11Alive in 2007 as a Community Service Award recipient.