CELEBRATING A Legacy of Service and Advocacy

Martha Poole Simmons has devoted herself to community service, particularly supporting veterans and senior citizens. All of us at the Alabama Gazette wants to thank her for all her hard work and dedication over the past 7 years. She has written biographical articles on 312 veterans during December 2018 through September 2025 for the Gazette. In addition she wrote many other articles about the activities of veterans’ service organizations, the Alabama Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VALUABLE SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY!

Service to veterans

Simmons has a long history of serving military veterans through various initiatives. Her work with the American Red Cross includes organizing celebratory drive-by parades for elderly veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also advocates for veterans through her column "Honoring Our Heroes" in the Alabama Gazette and by speaking at veteran organization

meetings. From 2016 to 2022, she volunteered at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care Outpatient Clinic and runs a "Totes of Hope" program providing hygiene items.

Support for seniors

As a dedicated volunteer at the Crump Senior Center Martha Simmons served as president of the Friends of the Crump Center. She led successful fundraising efforts and secured grants for the center. For over a decade, she has also coordinated volunteers for the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.

Her volunteer and community work includes:

• American Red Cross: For many years, Simmons has been a disaster relief volunteer, delivering food and supplies following events like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. She also taught disaster preparedness to students and teachers in Montgomery and served as a media spokesperson.

• Crump Senior Center: As president of the Friends of the Crump Center advisory board, she spearheaded fundraising to help the senior center relocate and wrote grant proposals that raised over $20,000. She has also served as a coordinator for a weekly bridge program.

• Veteran advocacy: Simmons regularly writes articles honoring veterans for the Alabama Gazette, preserving their stories by sending her work to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. She has also volunteered at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care Outpatient Clinic and organized celebratory drive-by parades for aging veterans during the COVID-19

pandemic.

• Frazer United Methodist Church: She is an active member of the church, where she volunteers with the Christmas Angel Tree project and the Older Adult Ministry. For her extensive contributions, Simmons has received several prestigious recognitions:

• Alabama Senior Citizens Hall of Fame: She was formally inducted into the Class of 2024.

• AARP Alabama's Andrus Award: She received this award for Community Service in 2013.