It’s only once every five years that the Columbus Exchange Club gives the Andy Morris Book of Golden Deeds Award to one of its own members.
On Thursday, the 40th annual honor for volunteer service was awarded to BHS, Inc. President Lee Burdine, a 25-year resident of Columbus.
Award presenter and 14th Chancery District Judge Jim Davidson introduced Burdine by discussing several examples of his volunteerism and service.
Burdine has served in several positions for the Exchange Club, including as its president. He is a member of First United Methodist Church Columbus, where he is a member of its board of trustees and the mission chair. Davidson said Burdine had led 12 international mission trips with the church, served as a task force chairman for a church group assisting victims recovering from Hurricane Katrina and assisted in the construction of several Habitat for Humanity houses. Burdine has also raised money for several service organizations, including the Good Samaritan Medical Clinic, Helping Hands, the Wesley Foundation, the Loaves and Fishes Ministry and the Salvation Army among others, Davidson said.
“I’ve just covered a few of the things Lee does, and he does so without the limelight. He does so because he wants to,” Davidson said. “He’s given his time, energy and resources to better our community. He exemplifies the very essences and spirit of this award.”
Burdine said he was humbled to receive the distinction and attributed his desire to volunteer to his upbringing, when his parents regularly volunteered at a veterans affairs hospital in Atlanta and brought him each time they went.
“My mom and dad were really active in it and I saw first-hand what helping others is about and how important it can be from a volunteer standpoint,” Burdine said. “There probably wasn’t a weekend that they didn’t spend a lot of time up there. Their efforts showed what a volunteer can do one on one with people and that always stuck with me all my life.
“Looking at that list (of past award honorees). To be on that list is quite an honor,” he added. “This is a community where you can point in any direction and find an overabundance of people who give their time and efforts to serve others.”
Davidson said Burdine’s efforts embodied the award’s namesake.
“We’re all confronted almost daily with opportunities to help others. Some we recognize and some we don’t,” he said. “Winners of this award not only do not miss the opportunities, but they seek them out and even create them.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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