Morehead-Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

April 6, 2010

Wal-Mart store manager receives prestigious award

By Vanessa Overholser - Staff Writer CNHI

April 6, 2010 —     Only an elite few individuals are nominated and receive the SAAM Award. A local child advocacy organization has nominated a local department store manager for his humanitarian efforts within the community. He received the award in March.

    “I had received a phone call sometime in the middle part of February from a lady from Frankfort who called to congratulate me and I was like, ‘congratulations for what’,” said Wal-Mart Store Manager Scott Napier. “She said, ‘well Mr. Napier you won the SAAM Award,’ and I didn’t think much of it. So I said, ‘send me some information in the mail.’ She said, ‘we are invited to a presentation and a dinner in Frankfort on your behalf.’ I said again, send me some information. When she was on the phone I thought she said I won a Saint Award. I called a few people and said hey, I just won a Saint Award and I have no idea what it is for.”

    Napier said the lady explained he won the award because of his commitment to his community. That work included fundraisers and activities he helped conduct with Wal-Mart as well as the work he’s done on some boards he’s involved with in Rowan County. Some of those are Frontier Housing and the Gateway Advocacy Center and his involvement with programs on sexual abuse with women and children.

    "At that time, I had no earthly idea who had put my name in for it,” Napier said. The award was a kick-off to the governor signing a document that had to do with sexual abuse that was being instituted into law. To make a long story short, I had to be in Frankfort on Feb. 25."

    Napier said going to the capital for the award ceremony was a good opportunity.

    “I thought it would be good for a bunch store of managers to go up there because they told me that we were going to the House of Representatives and the Senate and get introduced on the floor,” he said. “So I thought about it again and I thought, you know, they are only giving one of those awards away in the state of Kentucky I thought this would be cool I’m going to take my family. So I contacted the schools and got my kids out of school to go to Frankfort so they could go to the state capital building and it would be like a field trip from them and that way they could get credit for school.”

    Napier and his family left for Frankfort that morning and met state officials in the rotunda in the capital building.

    “They were having a presentation kicking off Sexual Assault Awareness Month or SAAM. I was sitting there talking to the governor’s wife and we were chit chatting a little bit. Then they started the presentation and they went into this real long dialogue of this individual that sounded like a wonderful individual about what they did to give back to their community and all this stuff and all of a sudden they called my name. I didn’t know they were going to do it at that time. So I walked up there and they gave me a certificate. After that, there were five people in the state that got a similar award for what they do in their communities.”

    “What they have in the state capital building now is a big picture of the state of Kentucky with individuals who received this award and photos on the county they came from,” Napier said. “My photo was put up there for Rowan County and it will be up there until the end of time which is really cool.”

    After the presentation everyone broke for lunch and then they went to the House of Representatives where Napier was then taken to the Senate floor to be introduced to the House.

    “I was the only one that got to go onto the floor,” he said. “The governor’s wife read the proclamation and then she recognized me as the award winner for the year. I got this all access lapel pin, which is really cool. If I were to go to the House of Representatives this is my ticket to get in. Everybody doesn’t get these. Actually, Willie Roberts was with me that day. He came up to see my award. He doesn’t have one of these. He is jealous; he wants to borrow it."

    Napier said his all access pin gets him anywhere in the Senate building.

    “So at that point, I went around and introduced myself to people and got to meet 30 to 50 senators and talked to them.”

    Then at 4:30 that afternoon Napier was scheduled to meet the governor and his special guest.

    “His guest was really cool," he said. "It was the same day he was taking Magic Johnson as his guest to the UK game so I got to meet the governor and Magic Johnson on the same day.”

    Napier said his family was in the elevator with Magic Johnson and didn’t know it.

     The banquet was at the Crown Plaza Hotel that evening, which was where they gave away glass plaques. He didn’t know that he was expected to speak. They had a nice dinner. Napier was presented the award. He said he got up and spoke after being presented the award.

    “I was very appreciative of it,” Napier said. “It was a lot of fun. I realized that there are people out there who do recognize people who do things for the community. It was a positive day for me and I was excited about it.”

    He said the ladies at the Children’s Advocacy Center were the ones responsible for nominating him for the award.

    “It makes me appreciate the fact that they recognize that they can count on me,” Napier said. “I know they are tight budgeted with the state and this year it’s not going to be any different. They will continue receiving support from me. They are wonderful ladies who do a wonderful job with their work at the Advocacy Center.”

    Napier said his employees are proud of him for winning the award. He said he is grateful to the corporation he works for because he gets to do things for the community. He said he is all for doing what he can for kids. He said everything he does involves children.

    “I don’t feel not worthy. I feel appreciated. I’m touched that those ladies submitted my name for the award and I actually won because there are thousands of names that are submitted and I don’t know if they drew my name out of a hat or if they were sold on the fact that I was out there trying to make a difference. That plaque here has a picture of a puzzle on it. It states I am an essential piece of that puzzle. I’d like to think that I am. I feel like I can continue to make a difference. I can’t stop here.”

    Napier said the biggest part of giving back to the community is not just monetary. He said the biggest part is giving non-profit organizations ideas for fundraising or giving personal time.

    Children’s Advocacy Center officials said they were very happy about Napier receiving the award.

    “Scott is a wonderful asset to this community,” Medical Unit Coordinator for Children’s Advocacy Center Junelle Lyons said. “He is a leader who contributes to non-profit agencies and he is a good example for other businesses and business managers to show leadership in our community.”

    “Scott has been generous and has helped us for any of our events and without him we could not do many of the things we do for our community. He is greatly appreciated,” said Director Trish Lewis.

    “I think it is amazing,” said Rape Victims Services Coordinator/Educator Diane Rogers. We have been fortunate to have him here. He is the first business to win this type of award. We usually have law enforcement to win this award, people who do sexual assault exams. We’ve never had anyone to win this award in this area. This may be a way for other businesses on board. We really appreciate him. If I have victims who need things he says come out and get it.”

    “I think it’s wonderful,” said Training Coordinator for Wal-Mart Donna Crail. “He does a lot for our community. He does a lot to help people out. It’s a wonderful award and he deserves it.”

    “I am happy he received the award,” said Front End Zone Manager for Wal-Mart Moneake Lands. “I think he deserves it.”