Tribute to Volunteers
Mass vaccination clinic leader honored
The Inter-Mountain photos by Edgar Kelley Volunteers Harry Jones, left, and Steve Johnson cook up burgers and hot dogs on the grill Thursday for all of the volunteers who worked at the mass vaccination clinics at the Phil Gainer Community Center the past four months.
Mass vaccination clinic coordinator Chad Ware stands with a pair of certificates he was presented after the final clinic at the Phil Gainer Community Center Thursday.
The Inter-Mountain photos by Edgar Kelley Volunteers Harry Jones, left, and Steve Johnson cook up burgers and hot dogs on the grill Thursday for all of the volunteers who worked at the mass vaccination clinics at the Phil Gainer Community Center the past four months.
Mass vaccination clinic coordinator Chad Ware stands with a pair of certificates he was presented after the final clinic at the Phil Gainer Community Center Thursday.
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ELKINS -- For months now the mass vaccination clinics at the Phil Gainer Community Center have operated smoothly and efficiently while providing protection to residents against COVID-19. On Thursday, tribute was paid to the volunteers who worked to make the clinics a success -- and especially to the leader who oversaw the clinic efforts.
Chad Ware, of Davis Health Systems, has been the vaccination clinic coordinator and has consistently publicly praised the army of volunteers who have staffed the events. On Thursday, those volunteers returned the favor and honored Ware on the day of the final clinic.
"We all decided that we needed to do something for Chad," volunteer Mark Hardesty said. "And it's something everyone wanted to get involved with because everyone knows how hard Chad has worked to make this a success. It's been one of the best operations, period, that I have been around."
Ware was honored with a certificate from all of the volunteers that have worked at the clinics, and also received a certificate of appreciation from Gov. Jim Justice.
"The thing about Chad is that he always says it's not about him, it's about all the volunteers," Hardesty said. "But he's the man that has been behind it all. The work he has done is truly amazing."
Ware was clearly surprised by the recognition he received Thursday, and in his typical fashion, gave the credit to everyone but himself.
"There's no way I could have done any of this without the hard work from so many of you volunteers," Ware told a crowd of workers at the center. "The coolest thing was to see people who didn't know one another when this started, to becoming close friends after working together for four months.
"It's very humbling to just be a part of something that was so wonderful for our community. And it doesn't happen like that everywhere, but it happened here and all of you people are the reason it happened."
After the ceremony for Ware, an appreciation picnic was offered at the center to honor all the volunteers who have worked during the last several months at the clinic.