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From the County Executive’s officeTwo more residents are being recognized for giving gifts of time and talent to others.Theresa Beck and Madison Wheeley are Lawrence County’s adult and youth recipients, respectively, of the 2018 Governor’s Volunteer Stars Award. They and honorees from other participating Tennessee counties will be recognized in a ceremony at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs on February 10.Theresa Beck, IAM4KidsBeck is the founder, president and treasurer of IAM4Kids, a 22-year-old ministry that continues to have a positive impact on Lawrence County children. In the summer of 1996, Beck was leading a weekly Bible study for older women at East End United Methodist Church, at the corner of Fourth Street and Second Avenue. The neighborhood had changed since she grew up two streets over; several in her class felt uneasy being there.Neighborhood children liked to gather in the church parking lot. One day, a little girl asked if she could join the ladies inside. Beck told her no, but promised to bring a snack for her the next week. That child brought others, and the group was bigger every week.“I went to their parents and told them I was there to help their kids and teach them about Jesus. It worked because I wasn’t afraid to talk to them and they knew I loved and valued their kids.”That fall she began volunteering at Ingram Sowell Elementary, reading to students and eating lunch in the cafeteria. “If they knew me they would eat with me, and then others started coming over.” The need she saw convinced her to start meeting with students after school one day a week. Other volunteers joined her to offer a faith-based lesson with games, skits, dancing, and of course, a snack. Several churches offered support; one donated a former bread truck that volunteer Gabrielle Dixon used to take the games, lessons, and snacks directly into local neighborhoods. The late General Sessions Judge Lee England was a good friend who thought Beck could help the young people he saw in juvenile court. She became a fixture at those Wednesday afternoon hearings, primarily observing. “If he felt I could help them, he would point to me and say, ‘You need to go talk to that lady over there.’” She met with them and sometimes their parents. “If you know a child’s story you understand,” she said. Armed with that information she was able to “intervene,” or speak on their behalf with Lee. “Miraculous things happened,” she said. She also started having lunch at Lawrence County High School, where those she’d met in court and their friends joined her.That was all in the ministry’s first year. In the second year, Beck was invited to use the former David Crockett Elementary School for a Thursday afternoon program for older students. Two school buses and volunteer drivers eliminated the problem of transportation. Twenty volunteers worked with 30-40 teens there, while others kept up the program for younger students at East End. “Everything was an excuse we used to get to know them and let them know we loved them.”In the third year, both were held at East End and Beck decided to file for nonprofit status. “It has been ‘Theresa Beck for Children Ministries,’ but I wanted it to mean more and be more than just Theresa Beck.” The name chosen was IAM4Kids, the “I AM” standing for God.She continued to work at the Achievement Academy, have lunch at the schools, and attend court hearings. Afternoon programs had moved to a facility on Buffalo Road, but attendance eventually became sporadic and they were difficult to maintain. In 2006 the Lawrence County School Board and IAM4kids became partners in a new way of helping students.Steve Seaton was a youth pastor and relatively new volunteer who became IAM4kids’ first (and still only) paid staff member. He continues to work to develop and support one-on-one mentoring relationships between adults and students. An orientation program for new mentors was held this Monday.At the same time, Seaton has developed materials that can help other school and faith community partnerships replicate the IAM4kids mentoring program nationwide. Details and testimonials are offered on .Beck continues to serve as the nonprofit’s president and treasurer. In her nomination to the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards committee, Seaton wrote, “In the past 22 years Theresa Beck has at no time benefited financially from all her work. Rather, she and her husband James have donated to IAM4kids on a monthly basis. I believe that her work of uniting a community to serve the at-risk population at the personal cost of her time and money, and no personal gain to self, makes her the perfect candidate for this award.”“I made it up as I went along,” Beck said, laughing. “And Lawrence County helped me in every way – the police, the courts, teachers, schools, and the churches that help and continue to give help. I consider it the body of Christ.” ................
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