Carbondale, IL – Kenneth is a board member of Green Earth, a non-profit that owns and maintains nature preserves in Carbondale. Its properties enhance Carbondale neighborhoods by providing green spaces and trails. Knowledgeable about plants and an amazingly hard worker, Kenneth assists and supervises volunteer work crews during the monthly workdays at Green Earth properties and has been doing so for many years. A lab technical assistant in pathology at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale for just over 18 years, he has volunteered countless hours of physical work to maintain Green Earth trails and help fight invasive species even before the summer of 2018. Since retiring a year ago, he has been working on Green Earth nature preserves nearly every day, weather permitting. WSIU Public Broadcasting, a service of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is pleased to announce Kenneth Mayberry as the new individual recipient of the monthly ‘Good Neighbor’ award as a part of WSIU’s One Region, All Neighbors initiative. Inspired by Fred Rogers, the campaign recognizes people who exemplify kindness and compassion and make a positive impact in their communities. “I’m very honored. I never considered myself in the same company as people who have won that award. When I’m doing something for recreation, the kind of benefit is just mutual. While I’m getting an award for volunteer hours, I don’t want it to be lost that this is self-beneficial. I’m sure I’m helping the natural environment, but I'm also helping my own environment, so I’m both giving and taking at the same time. And it's great that Green Earth is seeing benefit from my labors,” said awardee Kenneth Mayberry.
