On November 30, the Salem Kiwanis Club presented former educator Trula Byington with its 2021 Humanitarian of the Year Award. Said Byington after receiving the honor, “I would be remiss to not thank you all for all you do, particularly the clothes closet. Right now, we are serving about 500 individuals a month. Before COVID, I had 120 volunteers. We are now down to just 14 volunteers. We have a very large population of the elderly that are struggling with food and clothes. A lot of people don’t know that we serve the entire Roanoke Valley community, not just Salem. I do know that we couldn’t make it without donations from people like you. I must be honest, I don’t think I deserve this award, but I am thankful for the recognition. I look forward to seeing everyone’s faces at Friday’s Christmas Parade.”
