Louise McGinniss had just finished teaching swimming lessons at the Rehoboth Beach YMCA. Walking into the lobby, her hair damp and uncombed, she rounded a corner and nearly ran into a WBOC television camera crew.
Anchor Steve Hammond told her she’d received the Jefferson Award, a national award granted to exemplars of community service. McGinniss gaped in amazement as a congregation of friends and family, gathered for the occasion, burst into applause.
McGinniss, honored Dec. 3, is one of the 16 people on the Delmarva Peninsula to receive the award. Hammond said she will be honored at a luncheon in March, where a Delmarva winner will be announced.
Sussex Family YMCA executive director Terry Rasberry said his organization depends on the strength of volunteers such as McGinniss. He said she ranks among the Y’s top volunteers, teaching swimming and attending events. He said McGinniss is instrumental in teaching the Y’s annual free swimming clinic, which serves over 300 Sussex County children.
For the past 12 years, McGinniss said, she’s participated in the Lewes Polar Bear Plunge, raising around $2,500 each year and jumping in the frigid water – and going under, she points out.
McGinniss’s constant involvement is even more remarkable considering she has multiple sclerosis, or MS, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.
She was diagnosed 17 years ago, said her husband, Walt, while she was working for Cigna Insurance in Wilmington. When they moved to southern Delaware a decade ago, Walt said she gravitated to the YMCA’s pool.
“She found that swimming was the best thing for her,” he said. Aquatic exercise, especially in cool water, can ease limb and joint pain commonly associated with MS. Still, he said teaching gives her the greatest satisfaction.
“She loves being with the kids,” he said. “This is one of the things that keeps her going.”
McGinniss is a regular participant in the Delaware Special Olympics – Walt says she keeps a drawer full of medals at their home on Love Creek.
Still in shock from the award presentation, McGinniss said she just wants to keep active.
“I don’t want to be in a wheelchair,” she said. As the cameraman packed away his equipment, she added, “I should have done my hair.”
More than a week after the announcement, McGinniss laughs at her shock.
“I was shaking so bad, I didn’t know what to say,” she said. She knew her friends John and Pat McDonough had nominated her for the award, but she had forgotten about it since. When she saw the camera crews arrived, she figured they were filming a promotion for the YMCA.
“I just love being able to help children,” she said. “I feel the Y has made me stronger.”
The Jefferson Award, founded in 1972, is granted to Americans who exemplify a spirit of selfless devotion and community service. The American Institute for Public Service works with regional media outlets to find candidates, then chooses winners for five categories: service by elected officials, service by private citizens, service benefiting the disadvantaged, service benefiting the community, and service by citizens of 35 years or younger. Past citizen winners include Ralph Nader, consumer activist, and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
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