NEWBERRY — Margaret Brackett was named the Jake and Mildred Fulmer Humanitarian of the Year by Newberry County Memorial Hospital for her hard work and dedication to the Newberry community.
“It is such an honor to give this award to a humanitarian such as Margaret Brackett. She exemplifies the traits of Jake and Mildred Fulmer,” Bruce Baldwin, chief executive officer of NCMH, said in making the announcement.
This humanitarian award is given to a person the NCMH board of trustees feels follows the example set by Jake and Mildred Fulmer. The board chose Brackett for the award because of the hard work and accolades she has received over the years.
Brackett was a recipient of the 1997 Silver Scales of Justice Volunteer of the Year award, is a member of the Rape Crisis Network, has her own radio show on WKDK, where she discusses state wide issues such as juvenile crime, sexual assault, domestic violence, is a member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an organizer of a candlelight vigil of remembrance and hope each December for drunk driving victims, a previous recipient of “My Favorite Senior Citizen” award and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for media advocacy.
The winner of the award is kept secret until the announcement is made so to get Brackett to the event, she was convinced to attend so she could cover it for WKDK.
“I am absolutely speechless,” she said after the announcement was made. “I am so proud and so happy to receive such an honor. I was not expecting it. I was asked to cover the event for WKDK. The last thing I expected was to be given the award.”
The award is even more special to Brackett because she knew Jake Milton and considered him a good friend. She said that he would consider any of his customers his friend and she was a very loyal customer.
“I did not think I could buy anything on the hardware side unless it came from him,” Brackett said.
The Jake and Mildred Fulmer Humanitarian of the Year award was created after NCMH received a donation in 2008 from their estate. The NCMH board chose several ways to honor the gift, including naming the surgery area after the couple. The surgery waiting room features memorabilia from the couple’s lives.
“The board also chose to establish the Fulmer Humanitarian of the Year award in honor of the couple’s generosity and to announce publicly each year how the proceeds of the trust were spent,” Baldwin said.
Betty Fulmer, sister in law of Jake Fulmer, has known Brackett for many years, and said she is very deserving of the honor.
“I had surgery at one time, and Margaret called me every day. She is a very encouraging and dear person,” she said. “Jake would be happy. He adored Margaret and treasured her.”
Fulmer added that Jake and Mildred loved NCMH and would be honored that they give this award each year in their memory.