Giving back to children through volunteer efforts

Meritan has amazing volunteers who help give back to our community. From those who write letters to our homebound clients to volunteers who assist in our fundraising events, we are also proud that we have staff that gives back to the community.

Tammy Pierce is Meritan’s Associate Vice President of Development and Corporate Outreach. A Mississippian who spends countless hours volunteering and mentoring children through sports, she will be presented with the Mississippi GIVE (Goveroner’s Initiative for Volunteer Excellence) for Outstanding Service in Youth Mentorship in April 2022. The GIVE Awards are presented in cooperation with the Office of the Governor to honor the accomplishments of Mississippians who make a difference in their communities each year.

For numerous years, Tammy volunteered by coaching grade school and middle school young ladies in basketball and even coached volleyball one year. She not only wanted to teach the sports fundamentals but life lessons.

”There is so much to learn about life through sports.”, she said. “Integrity, determination, respect for others, continuous learning, and good sportsmanship that can easily be taught in coaching all roll over into everyday life. Being able to inspire these young ladies and my own daughter to love sports makes my heart happy. Seeing them put all they have on a court and push themselves inspires me.”

“I’ll never forget a new player I had a few years ago. We were about to scrimmage the boy’s team and she was terrified. She was my tallest player and I had her in to do the tip-off. She sat on the bench, eyes wide open, shaking her head no as I was trying to get her to go on the court. She was terrified and intimidated to play against boys. This past summer, she was playing on a boy’s travel team.”

Another player is involved with Girl Scouts. “She was my shot blocker. I told her that for every shot she blocked, I bought a box of her Girl Scout Cookies. I had to buy 22 boxes that season.”

Tammy continues to support her former players by attending as many of their sporting events as possible. She has to juggle her time between work and her daughter’s sporting events. “I’ve been told I’m burning the candle at both ends. But I’m really not. It’s not when I see my former players excited after a great play. While my daughter has transitioned from basketball to volleyball, she comes with me to cheer on her former teammates.” She’s been known to be the cheerleader who brings the big signs and yells the loudest cheering on her “girls”. “Those young ladies may not be my daughters, but they will always be ‘my girls’.”, she said. A season ticket holder to Ole Miss Women’s Basketball, she takes her former players to games to experience basketball at the collegiate level. When one of the Ole Miss team managers found out about this, he would allow Tammy’s players on the court pre-game to shoot around. “The players loved it! They would be smiling ear to ear!”

One year, she mentioned to a player’s younger brother he could be her Assistant Coach the next year. While she forgot about it, he didn’t. When he reminded her, she jumped at the chance to have him help. He helped run drills with the players, shag basketballs and he sat on the bench during the games keeping score. “I made him keep score to help with his math skills,” she said laughing. She even had a shirt made for him with the title Assistant Coach on the back.

In a ceremony in Jackson, MS on April 21, 2022, the First Lady of Mississippi, Elee Reeves, presented Tammy with her award. “It may be a trip to Jackson, MS, but I turned it into a learning adventure for my daughter. We toured of the Governor’s mansion and the State Capitol. If she has to miss school, it’s at least going to be educational.”, she laughed. “There are always opportunities to learn wherever you are.”