St. Mary’s County Commission for Women Announces 2023 Honorees for Women’s History Month

The St. Mary’s County Commission for Women (CFW) is proud to announce this year’s Ruth Bader Ginsberg Lifetime Achievement Award and Hometown She-ro Award honorees!

Each year, the members of the St. Mary’s County Commission for Women select one woman to receive the Ruth Bader Ginsberg Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is given to a St. Mary’s County woman who has, over the course of many years, proven to be an outstanding volunteer who has demonstrated leadership and compassion. This year’s honoree, Donna Marie Voorhaar, is one such woman.

Like Justice Ginsberg, Voorhaar is tenacious and dedicated. Her volunteer career began when she was 18 at the St. Mary’s Hospital snack bar. After the birth of her sons, Voorhaar served as a Sunday School teacher and youth fellowship counselor with United Methodist Church. She volunteered in special education classroom with St. Mary’s County Public Schools, and, in 1978, began volunteering with the Special Olympics of Maryland in St. Mary’s County.

Voorhaar joined the Ridge Volunteer Rescue Squad in 1985 and moved to the Lexington Park Volunteer Rescue Squad (LPVRS) in 1998. Among other outstanding qualifications, she has her Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Automated External Defibrillator certifications and is an intravenous (IV) technician.

Voorhaar was one of the first females to complete the full firefighter’s curriculum in Southern Maryland and was inducted into the Southern Maryland Volunteer Firefighters Hall of Fame in 2000. She can often be found at LPVRS, where she continues to serve in her role as an EMT/IV technician and responding to emergency situations.

The Hometown Shero Award for 2023 will be presented to the volunteers with St. Mary’s Caring Soup Kitchen and Caring Director Kristine Millen.

Since 1993, the St. Mary’s Caring Soup Kitchen has been a lifesaver for the hungry. They believe that food insecurity not only sickens the body, but it eats away at the soul, so they strive to create a pathway out of hunger by providing nutritional food while viewing each guest as a valued individual. They are the full-time soup kitchen in Southern Maryland.

Millen started her work as a volunteer in the kitchen in 2006. She leads a small staff and group of dedicated volunteers (100+ strong) to feed the hungry and advocate for the people they serve. In 2022, this group of amazing volunteers served 125,054 free meals.

We invite you to help us celebrate the incredible accomplishments of these honorees at the Women’s History Month Banquet on Saturday, March 18, at Braddock Hall & Conference Center in the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department (doors open at 10:30 AM).

To purchase tickets or for event information, please visit: stmaryscountymd.gov/cwawards

Questions may be directed to Debra Kane at (301) 475-4200, ext. 1680.

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