Total Action for Progress (TAP) will present a new award at their 2019 Annual Lunch: the Legacy Award will be presented to Mr. George Kegley.
George Kegley spent 44 years as a journalist for The Roanoke Times, first as a general assignment reporter and then as a business writer. A fixture of the community, Mr. Kegley was also heavily involved in volunteering throughout his professional career, and has been a “full-time volunteer” since his retirement in 1993.
In 1950, after writing an article about the opening of the local Red Cross center, Mr. Kegley became a blood donor and has since donated 60 gallons, one pint at a time. In addition, he and his wife Louise have been involved with the Historical Society of Western Virginia since it was founded in 1957, including Mr. Kegley serving as president and board member.
In 1988, Mr. Kegley helped to establish the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, of which he still serves as a board member. Further, Mr. and Mrs. Kegley donated a large easement on their 116-acre farm to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation & Department of Historic Resources, the first conservation easement within Roanoke City limits.
Mr. Kegley also spends his time organizing summer camps and camping trips for inner-city children, teaching Sunday school and participating in other activities at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, and editing the monthly Virginia Lutheran and quarterly insert for a national Lutheran magazine.
He has also been a long-time volunteer with Meals on Wheels, spent more than 18 years volunteering at the RAM House, and worked to improve the lives of refugees in the Roanoke Valley for more than 40 years. Mr. Kegley likes to tell people that “volunteerism is like quicksand—the more you do, the more involved you get with the people you are working with, and the more interested you are.”
