03/02/2009
Glen Allen resident receives national award for women
 Cherie Smith received the Annie Oakley Award during the NWTF's 33rd annual Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tenn. Click image for print quality version |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — "The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give," said legendary American poet Walt Whitman. His sentiments were reiterated more than two centuries later by Cherie Smith of Glen Allen, Va.
"It just makes me want to go out and do more," she said, after receiving the 2009 Annie Oakley Award given each year at the National Wild Turkey Federation's Convention and Sport Show, held Feb. 19 to 22 in Nashville, Tenn.
The NWTF is a national nonprofit conservation organization that was founded in 1973 and has worked with wildlife agencies to restore wild turkey populations from 1.3 million wild turkeys to nearly 7 million today. NWTF volunteers raise funds and work daily to improve critical wildlife habitat, increase access to public hunting land and introduce new people to the outdoors and hunting. To date, the NWTF and its partners have spent more than $286 million upholding hunting traditions and conserving nearly 14 million acres of wildlife habitat. And Smith stood out among thousands of volunteers and members in her commitment to the Federation's mission.
Just as world-famous sureshot Annie Oakley spent the better part of her life as an ambassador for shooting sports, Smith has spent the last seven years giving back to her community in the name of conservation, hunting and the outdoors.
As a member of the Tri-County Spurs Chapter of the NWTF, Smith has served as chapter president, chaired their local fundraising banquet and helped bring the outdoors lifestyle to women and children by coordinating hands-on learning events.
According to Smith, community service is the most important part of the NWTF's mission, and it's what keeps her involved. Her chapter participates in the Turkey Hunters Care program, which provides holiday meals to the less fortunate. "It's unbelievable to watch mothers cry because they're going to have food for their kids," she said.
Smith is an example that the NWTF is more than turkeys. It's the people -- and their giving spirits -- that make the Federation a success.
