Donna Griffith receives Gatekeeper individual award

Where there’s a need, there’s Donna Griffith. 

“If somebody needs something done, and it gets to me, I’m on it,” she said. “I love it if I can do something to make somebody’s day better. I was brought up to give what we could back to our communities whenever we could. I just have a passion for it.”

Donna Griffith was presented the Ned and Goldie Paine Memorial Gatekeeper individual award by the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce Feb. 25, publicly recognizing her more than 30 years of volunteer service in the Trussville community.

“Trussville is an awesome town to live in,” Donna Griffith said. “I’m totally honored to be amongst the ranks that have won it before me.”

Since her husband, David, became a volunteer firefighter in the early 1980s, Donna Griffith has been helping provide chairs, snacks, coolers of drinks and towels to help Trussville’s firefighters rehab on calls. She later became a volunteer firefighter and first responder herself to help teach the Explorers program. One of her cherished roles was helping with the Trussville Fire Department’s Christmas for Kids Program. 

When her oldest son, Andy, started school in the early ’90s, she began volunteering her time as a teacher’s aide in Trussville’s schools. Her service work expanded as her children grew — giving her time as a Boy Scouts den mother and becoming the uniform lady for the Husky Marching Band when her middle child, Matthew, joined the band. 

In each role, her years of service continued after her children moved on. With the band, she can be seen in the fall fluffing the plumes on a band member’s hat — now five seasons since her youngest, Rebecca, graduated from HTHS. She is also a board member at TEAM (Trussville Ecumenical Assistive Ministry), representing First Baptist Church of Trussville, and she works in her “spare time” as a library instructional aide at Paine Elementary School. 

Donna Griffith’s passion to serve dates back to growing up in Ensley as an elementary student at Saint Joseph Catholic School, where she used to seek out those who were playing by themselves at recess or spend her play time teaching younger children to read. She also sometimes played the organ for weekday mass. 

Serving is ingrained in the Griffith family, with each of her three children working as firefighters or first responders.

“We haven’t ever known not servicing,” Andy Griffith said. “It’s the way we were brought up and have always been helping other people. It’s second nature.”

When the Chamber announced it was accepting nominations for the Gatekeeper awards, Andy Griffith knew he needed to nominate his mother.

“It’s rewarding that she’s been recognized for the things she’s done all along. It’s everyday things for us, but to the people she helps with TEAM and the high school kids that she gives her attention to, she’s always seeing the underdogs and puts attention where it needs to be,” Andy Griffith said.

He wrote in the nomination: “I find it amazing that 25 years of kids know who my mom is in Trussville. Any time I come in contact with a juvenile on a call that has gone to Paine, when they see my name tag or I tell them who my mom is, they have an instant trust with me, which helps facilitate resolving the incident we were called for.”

Donna Griffith said she was told her face was priceless when the award was announced. Finding out it was her own children who nominated her made the honor even more special. 

“I am so honored to have been nominated by them. It really made my heart smile,” she said. “It was the best kept secret. When my children choose to surprise me, they do it well.”