Poole is Helping Hearts Citizen of the Year

St. Mary Parish native and resident Anne Washington Poole was honored as the Citizen of the Year at the 16th annual Tri-City Helping Hearts Foundation banquet Saturday at the St. Mary Parish Senior Citizens Center in Morgan City.
Poole, who is described by the foundation as a political and social activist, is the parish director for St. Mary Re-Entry Community Resources Program, which helps those incarcerated re-enter the community and adjust upon their release.
She also is a part of several faith-based and community organizations that help the less fortunate.
After receiving her award Saturday, she thanked numerous people, including the foundation, for honoring her.
“Truly, you could have chosen some other person as capable or even more capable than me,” Poole said. “I want you to know I am sincerely elated to have been chosen for this honor.”
She credited those, including audience members, who helped her advance to where she is today.
“I would not be standing here at this time had it not been for God, for my family and friends and the team players who have been there at every step of the way,” Poole said.
She said these people were there when times were tough and believed in her even when she didn’t believe in herself.
Tri-City Helping Hearts Foundation is a non-profit organization who serves the local area by assisting financially with burying loved ones of community members.
The guest speaker at Saturday’s banquet was Morgan City native Luria Young, a recently-retired senior associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Southern University and A&M College.
Young’s speech was centered on love.
“Before we can truly unite, we need to love,” she said.
Young said ways to show love are to love God, love yourself and love others.
“I know that the Tri-City Helping Hearts Foundation works very, very hard to raise money, to raise funding because they simply just love other people and love helping people, but this is what God has called all of us to do,” she said.
Young said once people love in all three ways she described, “then we can unite for the common good of all and see God move in mighty ways.”