COLUMBUS GROVE — When it comes to what motivates Jefferson Award winners Steve and Earlene Sellers, it comes down to their faith.
“The verse, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’ means a lot to us,” Earlene Sellers said. “Also, former president Jimmy Carter said, ‘My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.’”
“God puts a desire in our hearts to go and help people,” Steve Sellers added.
That desire has led them in many different directions, including serving as court-appointed special advocates, taking meals to shut-ins, providing reusable sanitary pads to young girls in Haiti and Kenya, and traveling to various parts of the country to aid in times of disaster.
“I’ve traveled every year since Gulfport, Mississippi (during Hurricane Katrina),” Steve Sellers said. “It kind of gave me an addiction to go out and do that kind of work. I’ve been to Galveston, Texas, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, two trips to Nashville, [Tennessee], and last year, we went to Illinois. There are a lot of places to go this year due to flooding. There’s something about meeting all the people there and hearing their stories.”
Nominator Christine Rodabaugh of Crime Victim Services only recently met the Sellers, but she quickly learned about their desire to give back.
“The more I heard about them and the more I saw them in action, the more impressed I was by how much they were giving back to the community. They’re retired, so they could be doing other things, but they’ve chosen spending their time helping a lot of people. They’re good people, and they’re very genuine.”
The Sellers hope that these stories from the Jefferson Awards inspire others to begin to give back, as well.
“I think word of mouth is great for knowing where to start,” Earlene Sellers said.
“There’s something that God puts on your heart to go and help people,” Steve Sellers added. “There are a lot of needs out there.”
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