Several volunteers in District 5 of the City of Bennettsville wanted to do something special to recognize the employees of the Public Works Department.
On Dec. 9, the group prepared lunch for the department. Public works employees came out to near the corner of King and Marshall Street to pick up to-go plates containing fried chicken, green beans, potato salad, rice, and dessert.
Yvonne Bracey, who spoke on behalf of the District 5 volunteers, said people always recognize the first responders and the police, but no one ever does anything for the sanitation department.
“We just wanted to show them appreciation and let them know that we love them,” she said.
Community members came together, with various people serving food and showing appreciation.
“We put our money together and brought the food to feed them,” Bracey said.
When she approached people about the appreciation, nobody said no.
“Everybody pitched in to help,” Bracey said. “We do what we can in our community to help (District 5 City Councilmember) Tyron Abraham. He does everything he can to help us, so anything we need to do to help him back, we will do it.”
Bill Parrish, director of Public Works, felt the meal was a nice gesture.
“It is very seldom that we get recognized for the hard work and dedication that my guys do,” he said. “We get complaints most of the time, and just dealing with the complaints all the time puts a damper on the work ethic. It is a great gesture; we appreciate everything they have done for us and recognizing us.”
Abraham said it meant a lot to know that he had support in the community.
“It’s so important that you bring communities together,” he said. “I appreciate these ladies calling me and telling me they wanted to do this.”
For him, it represented showing love in the community.
He added he hoped that it could be continued and made larger.
“We wanted to recognize the sanitation workers because they are often not recognized,” Abraham said. “They do many things behind the scenes that many people don’t know.
The District 5 Community volunteers were Mildred Smith, Charlene Armfield, Robersena Ellerbe, Faye Primus, Rosena Wright, Lois Wright, Annie Garner, Donna McCall, Dot Ellerbe, Joyce Poole, Elaine Poole, Laverne McRae, Ella M. Grace, Carol Abraham, Barbara Nelson Moore, Quanaysia Bracey, Brenda Nelson, and Katherine Pegues.