CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — 8News is celebrating Remarkable Women who have made tremendous accomplishments in their community.
Winnie Pennington is a breast cancer survivor who has dedicated her life to serving others.
Every Thursday morning, you can find her packing meals at Belmont Community Resource Services in Richmond, a food and clothing pantry that serves upwards of 500 families per week.
“My most rewarding part is to think that somebody didn’t go hungry because I was able to help pack some food for them,” Pennington explained.
Her work helping others started decades ago. Her husband, Mark, writes, “She has always supported the community through community service such as EMS, or the Commonwealth of Virginia through her work as a search and rescue (SAR) coordinator and emergency manager, SAR instructor and SAR practitioner.”
One of the notable moments of her career was when she founded a first-of-its-kind dog search and rescue team.
“Dog searching was kind of new in the, I guess eighties,” she said. “Me and a friend of mine, we both like dogs and we like the search and rescue aspect of dogs. So, we started a group here in central Virginia, and I’m pretty proud that it’s still going.”
Her lifetime of helping others continued when she joined the Virginia Department of Emergency Management as the state coordinator for search and rescue. Pennington says at the time, it was a male-dominated field.
“It’s not that anybody was bad or mean, just that’s how it was,” she said. “Women just didn’t think about that as a career.”
Pennington says much of the work involved the search and rescue of missing children and Alzheimer’s patients. She spent 15 years in the role and hopes it inspires other women to get involved.
“I like to think that seeing somebody in a position of authority did give people some sort of thinking that they could do it,” she said. “You know, well, if that woman can do it, maybe I can do it too.”
Her accomplishments in her career only add to her kindness outside of work. Pennington has volunteered in several international mission trips to Haiti and Jamaica, is an active member of her church, and is a mother, grandmother and wife of nearly 50 years.
Even though Winnie is retired, she says her work is never done.
“I care about what happens to people,” she said. “I do.”
