Information from the American Cancer Society
ATLANTA – April 2022 – The American Cancer Society honors one volunteer with the 2021 Denise Noel Discovery Volunteer Award, a national honor presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to the Discovery Shop program. The 2021 recipient is Michele Rhilinger from West Seattle, Washington.
The Denise Noel Discovery Volunteer Award recognizes an American Cancer Society volunteer who has shown exceptional achievement, performance, and dedication to the Discovery Shop program. This individual adheres to the Discovery Shop program’s mission and values, is particularly dedicated to elevating the customer and donor experience, and performs above and beyond their duties as a Discovery Shop volunteer. An appointed task force comprised of staff members from all active Discovery Shop regions selects the awardee based on a set criteria scale.
Michele Rhilinger has been the heart and soul of the West Seattle Discovery Shop for more than 10 years. She is extremely professional in all her work at the Discovery Shop and well-known throughout the West Seattle community as a representative of the American Cancer Society. Through her talents in merchandising, she has created a standard for a very high level of appearance of the Shop and an exceptional level of customer service. Michele has worked endless hours to keep her local shop open when so many other volunteers did not return after the initial COVID-19 shut down. She has spent hours in the Discovery Shop and at her home, working with volunteers, answering questions, bringing in new volunteers, and keeping current volunteers apprised of what was going on throughout shop remodeling and COVID-19 closures.
Michele served as the volunteer chair of the West Seattle Discovery Shop, vice-chair, then chair again. Despite her retirement from her professional career, Michele stayed in the role and has sacrificed countless days for the benefit of the shop. Her support of Discovery Shop and American Cancer Society’s mission is unmatched and respected by so many in her community and across the Discovery Shop enterprise.
Selling gently used and new fashions for you and your home – Discovery Shop locations have helped fund the fight against cancer for more than 50 years, while also playing a leading role in the sustainable goods effort. Being staffed in large part by local community volunteers ensures the most dollars help to save lives from cancer. New volunteers are always welcomed, for more information visit cancer.org/discovery or call your local Discovery Shop.
