NORFOLK, Va. — For more than 170 years, Freemason Street Baptist Church has stood tall in Downtown Norfolk, but if you talk to the people inside, it’s the work outside the sanctuary walls that really define the congregation today.
From church programming, to helping outside organizations like YWCA of South Hampton Roads, you could say Deborah Antony is the Swiss Army Knife of volunteers — she does it all.
"Anytime I need help or assistance with something, she and Pastor Bob are the first to say 'yes,'" said Michelle Ellis Young, CEO of the local YWCA chapter.
News 3 reached out to Ellis Young to ask if she had any volunteers that go above and beyond for the YWCA and its mission to empower local women and eliminate racism.
“Serves with a servant’s heart," Ellis Young told News 3. "There is never a ‘no’ in her spirit.”
We met Antony at the Freemason Street church, where her volunteering goes from driving seniors on the church bus to teaching kids in Sunday School.
"It’s like Vegas. What happens in this room, stays in this room," Antony, 71, told News 3 while showing off her classroom. "When kids start to feel comfortable and trusted and loved, they will let you into their hearts and their lives. Some of these kids go through an awful lot of stuff."
But her heart for giving back extends outside the church too, including working with Ellis Young on providing books to local children and helping set up for community conversations about racism called Community Peacemaking circles.
“On Sundays, Deborah splits time between singing in the choir and running the livestream," said church pastor Bob Guffey.
And with that information in mind, News 3 is presenting Antony with this week's Everyday Hero award, which includes a $300 Visa gift card courtesy of Southern Bank.
“There are so many people who do this and…if I didn’t have my husband, I couldn’t do any of it," said an emotional Antony, who's also a mother to four children.
And though she does admit to taking some time for herself when needed, Antony says she tries to say 'yes' as much as she can — inspired by other super volunteers at her church.
“Blessed is an overused word, but to be in this community of people, we are small but we are mighty," she told News 3. "We have a garden out there, we have a clothes closet. We may not have a lot of people in the sanctuary on Sunday, but, golly, do we do a lot of stuff within these walls.”
