Silent Honors

The 2025 Silent Heroes of the Wiregrass included a group of people whose efforts have made a difference in the lives of others and their communities.

Melissa Wood

In 2024, Wood founded Fostering Angels in Elba, a store open to foster children and the families who care for them. Every item is free with clothing, school supplies, toys, jewelry, and other items available for babies up to 18-year-olds.

Joe Newsome

Newsome founded Forge Ministries and The Forge Chapel in Coffee Springs. The ministry and church provide food, blankets, and clothes to those in need and collects toys to give children during the holidays.

Teresa Holmes

Working with local school systems, Holmes saw the needs of foster parents and started Grace Loves ministry at the Place of Grace Church in Slocomb in 2021. Grace Loves helps with supplies and provides support for foster families.

Gardening Class Volunteers

Wiregrass Master Gardeners Susie Robbins, Gail Murphy, Beverly Sorensen, Ron Meadows, and William Ray teach gardening to 6th-grade students at Bethel Christian Academy in Dothan. They mentor students as they grow herbs and vegetables in a classroom garden.

Henry “Buddy” Guilford

Eden, Hartford’s Garden of Prayer, was established in 2005 following a visit Guilford and his late wife, Patricia, made to a prayer garden in South Carolina. Guilford has been 1 of the garden’s caretakers all these years so others can enjoy the beauty and serenity of the community space.

Hana Hutchison

Built with help from her father, Hutchison’s buddy benches are intended to teach children about kindness. Placed at local elementary schools and child care centers around Enterprise, the buddy benches give children who need a friend a place to go and signal to other children to join them.

Kate Strickland

Losing her husband in 2001 spurred Strickland to join her local senior center in Samson and begin volunteering. She began helping anywhere she saw a need. Strickland was recognized as the 2019 Alabama Volunteer of the Year and inducted into the Alabama Senior Center Hall of Fame.

Kendall Allen

Allen took his first mission trip to El Salvador nearly 10 years ago and has returned 8 times, planning his ninth mission trip this year to help rural areas in need. He began organizing mission trips for his church, Ariton Baptist Church, in 2019.

Robert Quattlebaum & the Flag Crew

On Veterans Day and Memorial Day, Quattlebaum and a group of volunteers, including Philip Marsh, Billy Webb, David McGriff, Joel Watkins, Tom Rosser, and Ray Hutto, set out to mark the graves of veterans buried in local cemeteries with American flags.

Cheri Hannah

As co-founder of the nonprofit rescue Kitty Kottage, Hannah has spent hours driving cats and kittens to new homes and nursing injured and sick cats with help from a small staff and volunteers. Together, they save hundreds of felines each year.

Chris & Sophia Jones

The grief of losing their 15-year-son, Savoy, in 2013 led the Joneses to create the Savoy Jones Benefit Foundation, awarding scholarships and providing leadership development for students with financial need as well as supporting other local nonprofits. In 2026, the Savoy Jones Golf Event will mark its 10th year raising funds for the foundation.

Ronnie Baine & Men on Missions

Baine has completed between 45 and 50 construction projects with a group of volunteers called Men on Missions Ministry. They’ve built wheelchair ramps, handrails, and repaired porches at no charge for residents with physical limitations.