FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Each year at its annual installation and awards banquet in June, the Rotary Club of Fairhope presents its Rotary Volunteer Award to “a local citizen who has made a significant contribution to the community as a volunteer.” The award is the highest honor given by the club to a nonmember. This year’s recipient, Nancy Fontenot, is such a busy volunteer that it was not until December that she and the club could coordinate their schedules to make the award presentation.

In presenting the award, Tim Simmonds, who nominated Fontenot, cited in particular her service to St. Lawrence Catholic Church, where she has served on the parish council and been a lector, children’s liturgy leader and adult education teacher. She has also been a facilitator for the church’s implementation of the JustFaith program, a 30-week process that empowers participants to develop a passion and thirst for justice, and prepares them for the work of social ministry (http://www.justfaith.org/programs/justfaith.html), and initiated the church’s support of Hearts and Hands, an organization that brings people and resources together to help children at risk around the world (http://www.heartsandhandsinternational.org/about_us.php).

Additionally, Fontenot serves on the McGill-Toolen school board and the board of directors of Ecumenical Ministries Inc. She is currently a volunteer at Christ the King Catholic School in Daphne.

Formerly, when Fontenot was a teacher at McGill-Toolen, Simmonds recalled, she would always take her students to visit homeless shelters to get them more engaged in community service. In all of these activities, he said, Fontenot serves without fanfare or fuss. Furthermore, over the past five months she has been combining her volunteer activities with being a caregiver for family members in critical health. She is thus a true “unsung hero” and well deserving of this award.