On June 9, 2005 our family was honored by the Rotary Club of Mineola-Garden City as this year's recipient of the Kirby Award for Community Service. We received the award for organizing the preparation and delivery of meals to homebound senior citizens on Thanksgiving Day for the past nine years.

The success of this program comes from the tremendous outpouring of support we have received from our neighbors in Garden City, Mineola and surrounding neighborhoods. Literally, hundreds of adults and children help in some way through cooking, donating, packing and delivering the meals. School children and youth groups have made the meals even more special by adding cards and letters, as well as decorating the bags in which the meals are delivered.

While our family will treasure the memory of the award ceremony and the acknowledgement we received from the Rotary Club, we wish to publicly accept this award in the name of all the generous volunteers who have made this program prosper and continue to grow.

Melinda and John Alford