CRESTVIEW — Monday, the City Council will honor Dr. Naomi Barnes as this year’s recipient of the Mae Reatha Coleman Crestview Citizen of the Year Award.
Barnes is the third recipient of the award, a namesake of the longtime community activist and first recipient.
She was selected by a committee chaired by Coleman, and was nominated for her role as an educator and community volunteer in multiple areas.
“I was surprised, because there’s other people in the community who have done a lot for the people,” Barnes said. “I guess God just chose this time to bless me.”
Barnes, a former Southside Elementary School teacher, volunteered as an after-school tutor at Mount Zion A.M.E. Church and the Okaloosa Youth Development Center.
As a Crestview Concerned Citizens volunteer, she helped patrol neighborhoods to deter crime. In addition, she worked with Coleman as a volunteer on the Okaloosa County Crestview Area HIV Taskforce.
Barnes was a parent volunteer at the former Richbourg Middle School, Shoal River Middle School and Crestview High School. She also was a parent volunteer for the Shoal River Middle School golf team.
She is a member of the Crestview Civitan Club and sits on the club board of directors.
An active member of Gideons International, Barnes provided Bibles for the Mount Zion A.M.E. Church and for troubled youths at the Okaloosa Youth Academy.
She donates canned goods, clothes and household supplies to area food banks and shelters, and once helped gather furniture to furnish a five-bedroom residence for underprivileged residents.
“Sometimes she and her husband would drop off truck-loads of food at my house,” Coleman said. “She is a community worker.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Presentation of the Mae Reatha Coleman Citizen of the Year Award to Dr. Naomi Barnes
WHEN: 5 p.m. Aug. 25
WHERE: City Council Chamber, City Hall, 198 N. Wilson St., Crestview
NOTES: Light refreshments will follow the presentation
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview to recognize retired educator for community outreach