Volunteers who will take on any task or challenge at a moment’s notice aren’t always easy to come by. That’s why the Plant City Family YMCA loves having Kathe Moore in its network.
Moore, who has volunteered with the Y since her retirement five years ago, has built a reputation as that kind of person. When the Y needs someone’s help with a project or an event, the staff knows it can count on her to answer the call and show up.
“Kathe serves as our Advisory Board chair and she is just… anytime you ever need anything, she’s there,” Executive Director Paul Conley said. “The best thing about her is her positivity and outlook on everything. She’s incredibly positive and fun to be around. She makes the core meetings, volunteering and working on different projects fun, and she’s always willing to step up and help.”
That’s why the Plant City Y decided to recognize her by naming her its 2021 Volunteer of the Year award last week.
“I was honored,” Moore said. “I said to Paul, ‘Wait a minute, isn’t there someone that does more than I do?’ I was surprised. I was honored. I was delighted.”
Moore joined the Advisory Board five years ago and has served as its chair for the last two years. She’s heavily involved in the annual Strong Leader Award event planning — she and Natalie Sweet co-chair it — as well as Dean’s Ride, Florida Strawberry Festival parking and “really everything the Y does,” Conley said. Moore herself strongly supports family-oriented programs as a mom whose children grew up in the Plant City Y starting when it opened in the 1990s. She would especially like to see the bike rodeo for kids return as it was a “great thing to teach kids safety.”
“I love the programs they have for the families,” Moore said. “One thing that really excites me is looking at our community and saying ‘What do we need to do to help the community?’ We dig in and find out what we can do. That’s very exciting to me.”
Moore and her husband Dave have been Plant City residents since 1989. They moved to Plant City because it was the halfway point between their two jobs — she worked in Tampa with Hillsborough County Public Schools and he worked in Winter Haven — and joining the Plant City Y when it opened was a no-brainer for the Moore family.
“We love Plant City,” Moore said. “Plant City is such a wonderful place to raise a family. The YMCA is like part of our family… It’s a great community and the Y was very much a part of raising our family. it’s a great place.”
Moore was honored last week when the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA held its annual Community Impact Week celebration, a four-day virtual event in which the Plant City Y and the nine other branches in that network honored their Volunteer of the Year winners with video presentations.
“I am so grateful that I am able to give my time, talents and treasures to our YMCA,” Moore said in a press release. “My Y experiences, whether I’m volunteering or working out, are special to me and truly rewarding to my spirit, mind and body.”