Golden Deeds honoree chosen

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 15, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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There’s probably not a community service board in Baton Rouge that Frances Bennett has not worked on or with.

If there is one, well, just give her some time.

On Tuesday, the Inter-Civic Council and The Advocate recognized Bennett for that volunteerism, choosing her the recipient of the 67th annual Golden Deeds Award.

“This is totally overwhelming. I couldn’t believe it,” Bennett said Tuesday night.

Bennett, 68, and her husband, Charles Bennett, 79, were attending a Brave Heart-Children in Need Board meeting when they got the news about the Golden Deeds award. The Brave Heart organization assists children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and/or neglect.

The Bennetts said their home, on Thornwood Drive, is just the place where they sleep.

Frances Bennett is a board member of the International Hospitality Foundation, which provides host families for foreign students at LSU; the Brave Heart board; The Sunshine Foundation, which publishes and distributes the book “You Are Sunshine” to kindergarten students in Louisiana with the help of the Louisiana National Guard; the Baton Rouge chapter of Friendship Force International; and the Mental Health Association for Greater Baton Rouge.

During Hurricane Gustav, Bennett and her husband worked 13-hour days volunteering with the American Red Cross.

The couple distributed water and hot meals from the back of trucks in several Louisiana communities.

The Bennetts volunteered for a total of 250 hours in September for Hurricane Gustav. They have worked for the American Red Cross for almost 20 years.

Frances Bennett, who in 2006 worked for 26 organizations, said she enjoys giving back to the community.

“My mother always gave back to people. I guess I got it from her,” Frances Bennett said.

“It’s the satisfaction of helping people,” she said.