Pastor Dan Coy left and Civitan Club President John Markey are featured with Good Samaratin Richard Simpson.

Richard Simpson of the Mill Creek area and a member of Mill Creek Baptist Church was named the first annual Botetourt Civitan Good Samaritan at the regular luncheon meeting on Wednesday June 3 at Bellacinos. Uneita Mathews of the Roanoke Rescue mission provided singing as entertainment.

Roanoke Civitan has been making the award for years, but the Botetourt Civitan Club that meets in Daleville is about 2 years old and decided for the first time to honor a Botetourt County Good Samaritan. A local committee of judges went through the submissions to decide who would be the first winner.

Simpson volunteers for the Botetourt Resource Center and his church. He is well known for providing families and the elderly with cut, stacked firewood and that may total as many as 40-60 loads per winter as well as plowing gardens for free. “I do it because I like to help people not because I want the recognition,” he told the luncheon assembly. Simpson was nominated by Robyn Dobyns of the Botetourt Resource Center, Pat Shotwell, J.R. Graybill, Tommy Moore and Simpson’s pastor, Rev. Randy Daniels of Mill Creek Baptist Church who also read the scripture about the Good Samaritan from the New Testament.

Judges were Ellie Binder, Joe Binder, Dan Naff, Nancy Curry and Betty Wright.