The Camden and Ouachita County Church Women United celebrated Human Rights Day on Dec. 6 with the presentation of their Human Rights Award to Tate Wunnenberg.
Ellen Horseman presented the award to Wunnenberg during the organization's December meeting and said as Church Women United they should remember the human rights declaration made in the 1940's.
"All humans beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," she quoted, "and that they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another. In a spirit of brotherhood."
Horseman continued saying, "We believe that all people are entitled to freedom and dignity and respect and the Human Rights Day award recognizes someone in our community who has been outstanding in bringing forth human rights and lifting up human rights and caring for God's people within our community."
She said when she first told Wunnenberg he would be presented with the award he was hesitant to accept the honor.
"I think it speaks to his humility," said Horseman.
Horseman spoke of the difficulty which the organization had in choosing a recipient for the Humanitarian Award.
"I love this problem we have in Camden," she said. "There are some wonderful individuals in this community. You are doing a lot of good work in the name of Jesus Christ and to help people. And that was the hardest part -- to narrow it down to one. And I think that's a good problem to have."
Before presenting Wunnenberg with the award, Horseman gave the women in the audience some background on their chosen winner.
"He's a local guy. He grew up in Camden. He graduated from Fairview," she said, "and then the University of Arkansas. He lived outside of our community for a number of years, working in food services and came here, really, I guess during the pandemic."
Horseman said Wunnenberg returned to Camden to care for an ill friend and began volunteering at the First United Methodist Church Food Pantry.
"What began with just a simple phone call. Like 'Could you come and help?' has turned into a wonderful wonderful experience for us at First United Methodist Church," Horseman said.
According to Horseman, Wunnenberg took over running the food pantry for the church when she was unable due to illness and eventually he was named director.
"Under his leadership that food pantry, which we run it, First United Methodist Church, has grown from serving an average of about 275, 280 people a month to 450, sometimes even 500 families a month. Yeah. And he has found the most creative ways of anybody I know taking a lot of food there," said Horseman.
Wunnenberg also runs Sue's Table Ministry which serves a community meal at the First United Methodist Church every Monday night.
"We have a meal that is free to anyone from wants to come," said Horseman, "and the idea there is to provide food for those who have a physical need of food, maybe are short on funds, but it's also to provide Fellowship for anyone who wants to come."
Horseman said Wunnenberg is also a key coordinator for the Community Thanksgiving meal which was able to serve 550 meals this year.
"I want to tell you Tate has a really big heart," said Horseman, "and, he is a model of how to treat people in the love of Jesus Christ. There -- there's just no person, that is unworthy of his respect and love. When he meets people, he treats them with joy. He treats them dignity, he treats them, it doesn't matter, you know, it doesn't matter if they're a nice clean individual of sweet and God fearing, God praising person... You know, it doesn't matter how how dirty or how unclean, how anything they are; Tate will great them with joy.
"He greets them with interest. He greets them as if he cares about them, because sisters and brothers, he does care about them. And that, that love and that dignity and that perspective and just pure joy and friendliness by which he greets people... It's infectious."
Horseman spoke of Wunnenberg's willingness to take people in need to doctor visits, even driving as far as Little Rock on a weekly basis for needed treatments.
"He doesn't think he deserves any accolades," said Horseman. "He doesn't think that he's doing anything but what anybody else would do? He really didn't want to take this award because he felt unworthy. He didn't want to come up here today and I told him, I said 'You just come up there and suffer for a couple of hours because we appreciate his humility; we appreciate the example he sets and this community is better off because of the love and the ministry of Tate Wunnenberg and we are so proud to honor him today."
Horseman invited Wunnenberg to publicly accept a plaque honoring him as the recipient of the Women United Humanitarian Award.
Tate Wunnenberg accepts award for Human Rights from Camden and Ouachita County Church Women United
(photo by Kate Flynn)