Mary E. Humphrey was far from Gilroy – in Argentina, no less – when she heard the news last November. “My daughter texted me: ‘You’re the V-O-Y,’ volunteer of the year,” Humphrey recalled. “I was shocked. I don’t think volunteers do things for recognition, and I certainly don’t. So, it was a surprise.”
The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce has named Humphrey, a lifelong Gilroyan and business partner at local accounting firm Seledon, Vanni, Humphrey & Kawafuchi, as the 2011 Firman B. Voorhies Volunteer of the Year. Thanks to her “spirit of volunteerism,” the Chamber will honor Humphrey at the annual Spice of Life awards dinner tomorrow night. Humphrey’s volunteer streak began roughly two decades ago as president of the Gilroy Gator Swim Team.
She later served on the Chamber’s board of directors from 2004-2009 and worked closely with Leadership Gilroy and the Gilroy Downtown Business Association. A past president of the Gilroy Sunrise Rotary Club board, Humphrey was honored with a Rotary International Presidential Citation and now participates in a Rotary leadership academy.
She also serves on the Gilroy Unified School District’s Citizen Oversight Committee for Measure P, a $150 million meant for school improvements passed in 2008.
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