Pike honors prison volunteers

BLOOMING GROVE — Over 120 volunteers at the Pike County Correctional Facility were recently honored for their efforts at a banquet at the prison. In welcome, Warden Craig A. Lowe thanked both visiting county officials and the volunteers. The inmates are in dire need of support from people who are willing to give of themselves, he said. “This shows the inmates that someone cares and that they are not ‘throw aways’ to be punished and forgotten about.” Visitors were treated to a buffet dinner of chicken francese, sliced beef in gravy, twice baked potatoes, freshly prepared vegetables, and plenty fresh fruit. The entire meal was prepared and served by the inmates in the “culinary program.” The food was plentiful, hot and “tenderly tasty.” Warden Lowe told the Courier, “The volunteers we are honoring tonight help in so many ways. If I had to go to the commissioners to fund the programs that these volunteers do, it would almost be impossible. I couldn’t even put a dollar figure on it. Their efforts to try and get these people back on their feet is something that is of utmost importance to the inmates. People have to understand that when the inmates get released they are going right back in to our society and our communities, and we want them to remain there as good solid citizens.” Volunteer Pastor Claude Whitley of the New Life In Christ Church of Matamoras has been bringing his two-hour-long program in to the facility for over three years. He tries to encourage inmates of Christian faith to read the Bible regularly, and to change their attitude in a positive way. “The inmates in this facility don’t know just how good they have it here. They are treated with respect by the correction officers and higher ups. I have been to other facilities and they’re not like this. It is because Warden Lowe wants their time of incarceration to be positive rather than negative,” said Whitley. Susan Murphy a volunteer from Alcoholics Anonymous comes into the facility two times a month and conducts meetings with as many as 15 inmates at a time. “I see hope in their eyes and that keeps me coming back,” said Murphy. She went on to say, “When they get released we run the “Bridge To Gap” program and try to get them to continue going to meetings on the outside.” Imam Afify and Imam Yasser, two Muslim clerics, travel great distances to try and enrich the religious lives of Muslim inmates. Imam Afify has been doing volunteer work for over 15 years because his father did the same type of volunteer work back in his native Egypt. Imam Yasser has been helping out since 1998 and will be providing religious counseling to 18 male and four female inmates of Muslim faith in the facility. “I will be coming here once a week on Fridays to start,” said Yasser. Both clerics had to wait till 6:55 p.m. before they could eat as this is their religious period of Ramadan when Muslims must fast from sunrise to sunset. “You can have happiness in your life when you have God in your life,” Yasser told the Courier.