Joanie Riggins – Volunteer of the Year

Speech given by Gina Varra upon the occasion of the presentation of the 2008 Lawrence Enrieto Volunteer of the Year award.

Good evening.  It is my honor to be able to present this award because it is so well deserved.  The 2008 Lawrence Enrieto Volunteer of the Year award goes to Joanie Riggins and the Blue Parrot.

As many of you may know the Blue Parrot is celebrating its 90th year this year.  I’d love to tell you that Joanie has  been a working part of the Blue Parrot for that long but she would probably not appreciate it and it would be a bit of an exaggeration.  Joanie did start in the family business in 1970.  As the story goes, she began one weekend because the restaurant was short of help as it was Prom night.  She volunteered to hostess along side Esther Delforge and since then has been involved in every aspect of the business.  I would like to mention here that Joanie was a young stay at home mom at the time and it wasn’t for lack of a prom date that she was available to work that night.

In the early years Joanie’s volunteering centered around her three children, David, Donna and Jennifer.  She volunteered in the classroom and at each of the children’s schools throughout the years.  She was also a part of the ladies auxiliary fire department and on the hose team.  I guess there are some stories cenered around that but you’ll have to ask her.

Joanie has been on the board for the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Business Association and currently sits on the Lafayette/Louisville Downtown Revitalization and the Louisville Senior Citizens board.  She has volunteered with the 9 News Health fair and the Blue Parrot has donated space for training.  She donates the food each year for the Senior Heat Relief Dinner so that our seniors can get assistance with their utility bills.  She has been an integral part of the Spaghetti Open, the chamber’s golf tournament which is celebrating it’s 45th year.  She has volunteered her time at the tournament and has provided the food for many of those years.

I guess this would be the official list; things that you could look back on and find in the books and records of an organization, but it is the things that are not on this list that make her so special.  It is the dozens of funerals that she has provided food for over the years because she genuinely cares about the families.  It is the scores of causes and projects she supports through gift certificates and donations because she also cares about those causes.  It is in welcoming and encouraging new business peopele into the community as she did for me.  These are the things that make Joanie Riggins and the Blue Parrot such an integral and important part of our city and our community.  Please help me honor Joanie Riggins and the Blue Parrot for Volunteer of the Year.