Meet Moore People: Sandra W. Thomas and Nancy Kees

Meet Moore People is a series dedicated to the people we meet each day but do not really know; people who make Moore County a great place to live and work in.

Say “hello” to Sandra W. Thomas and Nancy Kees! This pair of Habitat for Humanity volunteers with the NC Sandhills branch have a combined accumulation of 6,208 hours as of March 12 at the ReStore off Hwy 5 in Aberdeen.

Assistant Manager and Volunteer Coordinator Krystal Allen said it was difficult to choose only one volunteer to honor. April is National Volunteer Month and a great time to honor two volunteers.

Thomas is a Moore County native and has two adult children ages 43 and 37. She lives in lower Aberdeen ever since it was called Berkley.

Her life’s motto is to treat others as you want to be treated. The reason she volunteers is that it is fun, and she gets a 20% discount. Thomas volunteers three days a week and is a cashier. Thomas said she does whatever she wants, and laughed when she said, “as long as I don’t hurt nobody.”

In June, Thomas will be celebrating volunteering at the ReStore for five years where she has accumulated 1,918 hours.

Nancy Kees has lived in Pinehurst for 30 years, has three children, and has volunteered for at least 10 years with 4,290 hours.

“Meeting people,” Kees said, “is the best part,” and she laughed when she said they call her, “your highness because I made it the rule.” Kees said a couple of elderly men are regular customers and that she had bonded with them, “but no one offered to put me in their will or bring me cookies,” as she laughed.

Kees walks in the early morning and used to be a dancer with Sophisticated Ladies. “It’s a version of the Rockettes,” Kees said. “A gal started it in New York, and we performed at nursing homes. We won a governor’s award for dancing and kicking over our heads.”

The pair of volunteers casually joked about not buying all the good stuff that comes into the store, and both said it was the best place to work.

April became National Volunteer Month as part of President George H. W. Bush’s Thousand Points of Light campaign in 1991.

If you know someone who you think makes Moore County a great place to live and would like to see them profiled in this series, please send your suggestions to [email protected].

Feature photo: NC Sandhills Habitat for Humanity volunteers Sandra W. Thomas (left) and Nancy Kees joke with each other on March 12 at the ReStore in Aberdeen.

~Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel Reporter Stephanie M. Sellers.

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