About 65 Hendersonians woke up bright and early Friday to begin a day of service in honor of the late Joel Hopper.
It was the first annual Joel Hopper Day of Service, a project created by a recently graduated group of the Henderson Leadership Initiative.
The participants were divided into groups to complete work at nine locations, including:
- Redbanks Regency Senior Apartments
- Healing Reins of Kentucky
- Fr. Bradley Shelter for Women and Children
- Daniel Pitino Henderson
- Elevate
- Community Baptist Church
- Riverview School
- Henderson Christian Community Outreach
- Henderson Area Arts Alliance
Participants first met at the Boys & Girls Club for breakfast provided by Hometown Roots, watched a video that documented Hopper’s positive contribution to the community and listened to a brief talk about Hopper by Dawn Kelsey, an HLI board member and current Henderson City Attorney. Then, the participants set out for the day of service.
Kelsey said that Hopper shunned recognition and so he would not have liked the name of the day.
“Joel loved to work behind the scenes,” Kelsey said.
She said Hopper was at his best when he was creating mechanisms to help people. One example was his work to create the Henderson Employee Relief Fund, when he gathered people and money from the Men’s Bourbon Society and around town, to create a fund for local people out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kelsey called the effort and results a “Joel Hopper master class.”
At the end of her talk, she cut herself off and relayed what Joel would say if he were there: “Quit talking and just go out and do the work.”
The members of the HLI group that created and organized the day of service are Ann Logan, Laken Duncan, Madelyn Pressley and Rachel Trout.
They say they want to grow the event next year and also grow the committee that puts it on.
Contact the group at hli.dayofservice@gmail.com.
