The award recognizes Hebert for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force. Sergeant Chris Roter, Private David Miller, and Hall – who was assigned to the GCC Library through the College’s work study program – were attending classes at GCC when they learned they would be called back to duty for deployment to Iraq at the end of the Fall 2008 semester. Hebert organized care packages and correspondence that were sent to these students to let them know their GCC family cared about them until their safe return.
“Lisa Hebert is not only an amazing supervisor, she also is an amazing person,” Hall said. “She and her staff went out of their way to send me and my battle buddies care packages and letters. It means a great deal to me to know that someone other than my family cares about us and about what we have to do in our duty as soldiers.”
A Whitewright resident and GCC employee since 1999, Hebert was humbled and honored to receive the award. “Never in my wildest imagination did I think my small acts toward Travis and his buddies would result in this award,” she said.
Supporting American troops is nothing new for Hebert, who was 13 when she first began writing letters to her father in Vietnam. However, the method of communicating has expanded.
“I remember when my dad told me that my cards and letters had meant so much to him,” she said. “That was before we had great technologies like email, social networks and cell phones. Thank goodness we have those things now.”
According to Hebert, the GCC Library staff worked together, as a family, to make sure they had food, books, messages on social networking sites, and other care packages to support Hall and the other soldiers. She even included a children’s story she wrote about a young child with a parent who went off to war. Hebert’s teenage daughter, Misty Hebert, accompanied her when shopping for items.
“It is important to instill in our youth the duty we have to support our troops,” Hebert said. “We are a community of Americans, supporting Americans. The men and women who serve our country are heroes. I love them.”
ESGR seeks to promote a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of its employees. Last year, about 14,000 employers across the nation were honored through the Patriotic Award program. For more information on the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, visit www.esgr.org.