TEXARKANA, Texas -- For the fifth year in a row, First Baptist Church played host to the Unsung Heroes Luncheon.
The gathering, held Friday, is the church's way of recognizing and thanking the community's many public service employees who keep rest of the population healthy, safe, protected and alive.
The event focused on those who serve as plumbers, custodians, school bus drivers, teachers, teacher aids, water utility workers, municipal public works personnel and of course firefighters, police officers and state troopers.
The people who do these jobs aren't often thought about and often times go unnoticed, said the Rev. Jeff Schreve, pastor of First Baptist Church.
"Without these great public servants being here, we wouldn't have clean water, we wouldn't have sanitation, we wouldn't have public safety, we wouldn't have anything that society needs," he said. "These great servants also love their jobs and they shouldn't go unnoticed because they perform jobs that are crucial to everyone's life."
Texarkana, Texas, Police Chief Kevin Schutte said he loves meeting fellow public servants.
"It's very good to get a chance to come out to gatherings like these and meet others who love being part of public service," he said.
Sharon Wilson, one of the event's volunteer workers, said she feels honored to thank the many varieties of public servants.
"I'm so glad the church wants to recognize our public servants and I want to thank everyone in public service for all the hard work they put into their jobs," she said.
Other volunteers, like Jan Leigh, keep volunteering for the event year after year. "This is about my third or fourth time to volunteer for this and I love getting a chance to talk to people in public service just to let them know that they are appreciated, because often times, their work does go unnoticed."
George Speer, a minister of guest services at the church, agreed, saying "This gives us all a chance to really appreciate those servants that we know we can't do without."
