Gloria Mitchell is a spry 91 year old who refuses to sit still and "act her age.”
A World War II veteran, Mitchell works out regularly at the Bethlehem Racquet Club and gets around in her vintage Chevy Camaro.
"I hate doing nothing," she said Monday morning after accepting the Josefina Berrios Community Service Award from the Bethlehem Housing Authority.
Mitchell is constantly on the go, helping out with a military honor guard detail, according to Maj. Gen. Gerald Still, who came to honor his friend. "Gloria is the epitome of a community servant," he said. "She gladly serves others because she gets a genuine good feeling from helping those in need.”
Mitchell, a participant in the authority’s Section 8 voucher program, also volunteers once per week, each week (for 15 years) at Lehigh Valley Hospital - Muhlenberg where they depend on her to make patient chart packs for the busy operating room staff. Her time allows the professional staff to concentrate on their work. According to her supervisor at LVH, Gloria is loyal, faithful, committed, neat and organized.
Since 2000, the Bethlehem Housing Authority has sought to reward volunteers and encourage others to do so with its annual community service award. The award is named in the honor of a former BHA resident, the late Josefina Berrios. Award recipients are nominated by authority employees.
