By Pleasanton Express Staff | on January 26, 2022
REBECCA PESQUEDA
NEWS EDITOR
Atascosa County was presented the Spirit of Health award from the Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio (BHFSA) in recognition of the community’s hard work combatting the challenges of the last two years. Pictured are Pct. 1 Commissioner Mark Gillespie, Pct. 2 Commissioner Stuart Knowlton, BHSFA Board Chair Dr. Dawn Stockton, County Judge Bob Hurley, BHSFA President/CEO Cody Knowlton, BHSFA Communications Assistant Deborah Admire, Pct. 3 Commissioner Eliseo Perez and Pct. 4 Commissioner Kennard Riley. REBECCA PESQUEDA | PLEASANTON EXPRESS
Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio (BHFSA) chose Atascosa County as one of the recipients for its 2021 Spirit of Health Award. The award presented to Commissioners Court on Monday by Cody Knowlton, BHFSA President and CEO and Dr. Dawn Stockton, BHFSA Board Chair.
The award was previously given to a single individual or organization, but in 2021, in recognition of the community’s hard work combatting the challenges of the last two years, the Spirit of Health Award was given to each of the eight counties in BHFSA’s service area— Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson.
As part of the award, Atascosa County also received a $1,000 gift to give to a nonprofit operating in the area. This $1,000 gift was given to the Atascosa Inter-Agency Council (AIC) led by Gloria Day.
“We are a group of 50 agencies, all of which provide services for clients in Atascosa County,” said Day. “AIC was formed in 1999, and basically it was because all of our agencies were trying to find services to help citizens. We just finished handing about $55,000 worth of grants to help people with utilities, rent, you name it. It’s all volunteers; no one gets paid for their services.”
In addition to the Spirit of Health Award, three Atascosa County nonprofits received a total of $189,799 in grants from BHFSA in 2021—CASA of South Texas, Children’s Alliance of South Texas and Safer Path Family Violence Shelter.
