A burst of applause for a stunned Mavis Dixon.
We surprised the beloved registrar at her job at Point Option High School in Newport News.
She was guided back to a classroom where we were hiding along with relatives, co-workers and some students who all yelled surprise! Mavis didn't know what to think, "I don't know, my heart's going a 100 miles an hour."
In addition to a dedicated school employee, she's passionate about community service. I told her we had received an email detailing how she's taking action and getting results.
I read a portion of that email which said Mavis' first volunteer position was in church at age 12.
Well Mavis still teaches Sunday school at her church and on Wednesday nights, she's teaching a Bible study to the seniors. Over the years, through outreach programs at her church, she's taken part in feeding the homeless, providing clothes for those in need and taking underprivileged kids shopping for school supplies and clothes. Her life has been busy doing all that she can to help others, but one of the greatest and most rewarding volunteer efforts she says has been when she volunteered at Safehaven, a home for abused children.
For all those reasons, we presented Mavis with a NewsChannel 3 People Taking Action award along with a $100 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank.
Her cousin Addision Taliferro, who nominated her, helped present her with the People Taking Action pin.
Mavis was touched by all of the recognition. "This is wonderful! I'm honored I really am. I guess the only thing I can say is that I'm thankful first of all. It's just my heart, I want to do things for other people, and I'm just thankful for the way my mom raised me to always do things for other people. You know, there's nothing like your heart feeling so filled with love and joy because you've done something for somebody else. I just like doing things and I have no intentions of stopping. I'm gonna do it until God says it's time to stop. It's what keeps me young."
