Site icon InlandEmpire.us

Riverside County Volunteers Honored

Picture: Dr. Ronald Loveridge (left) presents the Ronald O. Loveridge Volunteer of the Year Award to Dr. Mark Ashley (right).

Over 75 volunteers were honored and one was chosen as Volunteer of the Year.

RIVERSIDE, Calif., April 15, 2014 – “I didn’t do it for the recognition,” said Dr. Mark Ashley as he accepted the honor of being chosen as the 2014 Volunteer of the Year. Community Connect hosted the 17th Annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet on April 9th, 2014.  Volunteers from agencies across the County were honored and publicly recognized for their tremendous efforts. Each volunteer was personally thanked by Sheriff Stanley Sniff, Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, Riverside Councilman Paul Davis, Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward, Dr. Ronald Loveridge, and Community Connect Board Member Don Coon.

This year’s recipient of the Dr. Ronald O. Loveridge Volunteer of the Year Award is Dr. Mark Ashley, MD who is an urgent care doctor at Kaiser Permanente in Riverside but still finds time to volunteer. Dr. Ashley has been instrumental in getting the Health to Hope Clinics of the Urban Community Action Plan off the ground in 2010-2011 and making a substantial contribution to the health needs of the neediest in Riverside County.

Dr. Ashley also volunteers several days a month at the homeless shelter at the Access Center in Riverside.  He has traveled as far as North Palm Springs to deliver medical care to the homeless at Roy’s Resource Center. Dr. Ashley has a passion for teaching.  He previously has taken UCR medical students to serve the homeless on the streets, under bridges, and in the Santa Ana river bed.  Lately, he has been mentoring the family practice residents who rotate through the Health to Hope Center.

Dr. Ashley worked tirelessly to get the Federally Qualified Health Center status to the Health to Hope Clinics and was instrumental in the clinic receiving the honor in 2012.  He continues to be involved in the clinics as a provider, mentor, and a visionary standing ready to assist the clinic reach its potential so the homeless in riverside may have a patient centered medical home of their own.

The theme for the Volunteer Recognition Banquet this year was Volunteers – You are a Treasure. Sheriff Sniff of Riverside County said it perfectly, “volunteers are twice the citizen” making it possible to do all the things we do as a community.

Each year, Community Connect assists more than 266,000 men, women and children in need. Through eight programs Community Connect provides a variety of social and professional services to those in need. Community Connect’s programs include: Volunteer Connection, Nonprofit Resource Center, Shared Housing, HELPline, 211 Riverside County, Transportation Access Program (TAP), Alternative Sentencing Program (ASP) and Long-Term Care Ombudsman. For more information, visit www.connectriverside.org.

Exit mobile version