Avid Madison Heights Volunteer Laurie Geralds Graced with Governor’s Service Award

(Mary Dupuis, Dec. 13, 2022)

Madison Heights, MI – Laurie Geralds has been a driving force of volunteerism in Madison Heights for over 40 years.

Recently, she has been honored for all of her contributions to the community with a Governor’s Service Award.

Geralds said she grew up watching her parents and their friends participate as active members in the community and it inspired her to do the same.

Now 61-years-old, Geralds said she has raised three sets of family children and with each has participated in different volunteer activities such as stage crafters, Girl Scouts and marching band.

Despite some of her volunteer work growing and changing with the childrens’ interests, Geralds has remained dedicated to some of the groups she holds closest to her heart.

She has been involved in the GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) Madison Heights Women’s Club since 1999, her mother being the original president in 1977.

Geralds also has an affinity for the arts. She is on the board and heavily involved in PRISM, the men’s gay chorus, and was the first chairman of the Madison Heights Arts Board.

There are currently over 80 members in the chorus and Geralds and her mother have been attending their concerts since the group first formed.

Geralds said her mother has always said she’s PRISM’s biggest fan. When Geralds had recently posted that her mother was put on home hospice, the artistic director for PRISM messaged her and suggested that Men of Note, a smaller group within the chorus, should sing for her.

Shortly after, 18 of the men in the chorus came to surprise Gerald’s mother and sing for her in her living room.

“I told the guys that were there, ‘If you don’t understand the impact that you make on your audience, this is an example,’” Geralds said. “So to be a part of that as a board member, and to know that there are people that are moved by the music that they sing, and that the message they convey as gay men, is powerful to me.”

In addition to this, Geralds is active in many groups with causes she feels align with her values, such as the Madison Heights Food Pantry and Madison Heights Citizens United.

“When we have people who are regulars, for our pantry food pickups, who give us cards to express how important what we do is to them, that’s powerful,” Geralds said.

While in Citizens United Geralds said the group has put together Juneteenth events as well as “Courageous Conversations.” She said these events are held to create a safe space to encourage community members to discuss topics related to social injustice and racial issues.

Geralds is also an active participant in the Memorial Day Parade Committee and Veteran’s Day ceremony.

“I truly do feel like my brain is wired this way, and that my heart was designed for service,” Geralds said. “Things that make life better for other people are really important to me. Ways that we can help people like with the food pantry are really close to my heart.”

Geralds is not only a volunteer for different groups of the community, but has organized groups and events of her own.

She has started and leads MAD (Make a Difference) Mondays to encourage volunteers to become more active in their communities. This program works to organize different “projects” on Mondays throughout the summer to involve Madison Heights residents in volunteer activities.

Geralds said inspiration for MAD Mondays struck when she noticed an increase in discourse on community forums discussing the need for volunteer projects, but no way to organize volunteers to work on them.

This led her to designate eight Mondays throughout the summer from 6:30-8:00 p.m. where she would post a project for interested volunteers to show up and help at. Some of the activities the groups worked on were picking up trash in different areas of the community, painting baseball bleachers and spreading mulch.

Geralds also organized and participates in the annual Madison Heights Pumpkin Walk.

Due to her extensive involvement, Geralds is always ready to assist the City Manager of Madison Heights, Melissa Marsh, in recruiting volunteers for various needs throughout the community.

Marsh took notice of this and nominated Geralds last spring as a Michigan Hero for a Governor’s Service Award.

The Michigan Heroes campaign was launched by the Michigan Community Service Commission with the intention of recognizing those who served their community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to do so.

Those interested were encouraged to go online and nominate individuals and organizations that helped to serve their community in outstanding ways.

“Melissa Marsh the City Manager said, ‘…When I saw this opportunity, you were the first and only person that I thought of for submitting,’ which was really nice,” Geralds said.

The ceremony took place on Nov. 17 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit to applaud recipients from across the state for their commitment to volunteerism, service or philanthropy.

Geralds said winners were treated to a VIP reception, received their awards and were given the opportunity to take individual and group photos with Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

“I think they did a really nice job of making the recipients feel very special, which was nice,” Geralds said. “Everybody who was helping us get us backstage and handing out the awards were just really great, very appreciative. It was really beautifully done, it was a nice honor.”

Geralds said she is grateful for the award, but especially grateful for the community that led her there.

“I feel pretty blessed to be in a community that I love and working with a lot of different people in different capacities,” Geralds said. “It’s one of my favorite things.”