It was an honor to be selected as a recipient of the 2013 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award.
But after receiving the award, Wilma Boldt found out she was one of only 20 recipients across the state selected to receive the North Carolina Governor's Medallion Award for Volunteer Service.
She said the news “blew my mind because I was the first one in Lenoir County” to receive the Medallion award. The statewide volunteer award program is in its 34th year.
Boldt traveled to Raleigh to receive her medallion in person from Gov. Pat McCrory and his wife Ann at the Governor’s Mansion.
She was accompanied by her husband Don; Gary Black, president and CEO of Lenoir Memorial Hospital; and Lucy Marston, Lenoir County tourism director and county coordinator of the Governor's Volunteer Service Awards.
Marston said members of the community nominate volunteers every year and make recommendations to the state for up to five individuals. They can also recommend one of the nominees to receive the Medallion award. Boldt received the award for Lifetime Achievement.
“(Boldt) is an absolute delight,” Marston said. “She is an asset to this community.”
Black nominated Boldt, who has spent more hours than any other volunteer at the hospital — 22,000, so far. He said he was “honored and proud” to have accompanied her to the Governor’s Mansion.
“Lenoir Memorial Hospital has been extremely fortunate to have benefited from a long relationship with Wilma Boldt,” Black said. “She has not only provided outstanding volunteer leadership at Lenoir Memorial, but also nationally as the chairperson for the American Hospital Association Committee on Volunteers. We have enjoyed and appreciated her substantial contributions to our hospital through her volunteerism.”
Boldt said the medallion winners and their guests were welcomed into the mansion.
“We looked at paintings and furnishings on the first floor,” she said, “and it was a wonderful time. The governor and his wife welcomed everyone.”
McCrory gave each of the 20 recipients a medallion and Boldt was able to converse with him briefly.
The Iowa native has lived in Kinston 33 years. Her volunteering began in 1980, but nearly became a career.
“I just had some time,” she said, “so I started giving. I gave a week to the hospital and before I knew it, I was doing all kinds of things and enjoying it.”
Boldt started the Lights of Love, a fundraiser that honors loved ones, 26 years ago.
“We’ve raised over $500,000 in that time,” she said. “I’m very proud of that program because it hasn’t had many changes since its inception.”
Boldt headed up a number of committees, including Monkey Business, which gives handmade soft monkeys to children in the pediatric unit.
The Clown Troupe started up by accident, she said, during Pediatric Week. When a volunteer decided not to take the lead in the week’s program, Boldt took over. She was going to put on a puppet show, but the puppets were away at the cleaners. When she noticed a display of clowns, she came up with the idea to have volunteers dress up as clowns. They did that for 12 years.
She ran the hospital’s gift shop for three years and served on a planning committee for the construction of the shop and as customer relations instructor for hospital employees.
Boldt also volunteers for other organizations in the county, including Meals on Wheels and the Lenoir County Friends of the Library board, of which she is vice president. She is involved in various committees at First Presbyterian Church and helps make knitted and crocheted prayer shawls and lap robes for shut-ins and veterans. She also assisted with the planning committee for the construction of the Community Council for the Arts.
That doesn’t include her volunteering for ECU’s performing arts and Joyner Library boards, the state volunteer board and the American Hospital Association.
“I think I got more out of this (volunteering) than I gave,” Boldt said, “because it was very exciting and I learned a lot.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.