The Fred Hunneke Appreciation Banquet drew about 270 people Thursday night.
Co-organizer Don Boldt called the turnout at Select Foods “outstanding.”
“I think that’s a real indication of the affection and respect the community feels, that 270 came out,” he said.
Hunneke was honored for his co-founding of and work with the Eight Eighties/Wounded Warrior Team, which provides jobs in the area and state and C-shirts for wounded warriors at Camp Lejeune and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Hunneke, a former Marine, also has numerous feathers in his hat for community volunteer efforts.
“We had a nice time,” he said about the banquet. “It could not have been nicer.”
The idea to hold the event in honor of Hunneke was initiated by Kinston residents Gordon Vermillion, vice president of Select Foods; Bruce Parson, business manager at Lenoir Community College; and Boldt, retired president of Wall Lenk Corporation in Kinston and a retired assistant dean at ECU.
The banquet raised about $2,700 for the Wounded Warrior Team through ticket sales, as well as an undetermined amount of donations, which included $385 from the local PEO chapter (Philanthropic Education Organization) sisters of the local chapter of which Hunneke’s wife Anneliese and daughter Lisa Lewis are members.
Lewis said the event was “overwhelming.”
“It was just so nice,” she said.
Seven people, including Lt. Col. Leland Suttee, who heads up the Wounded Warrior Battalion East at Camp Lejeune, spoke at the banquet, and the American Legion Post 43 gave a presentation.
A live oak tree was planted at Pearson Park in honor of Hunneke, Boldt said. A framed photo of the tree was presented to Hunneke, and he was shown the stainless steal plaque that will be displayed by the tree.
Hunneke expressed appreciation for the many people who honored him.
“All of those people that got up and said something nice were a highlight to me,” he said.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.