Arabi resident named 2023 Distinguished Older Georgian

ARABI — The Georgia Council on Aging announced recently that Carolyn Lipscomb, executive director of Adventist Community Services South Georgia, has been named the 2023 Distinguished Older Georgian.

For more than 20 years, Lipscomb has been committed to serving and addressing the needs of seniors, a population that she said she feels is “often overlooked,” the council noted in a news release. She has served on the River Valley Area Agency on Aging’s Advisory Council representing the seniors of Crisp County for more than 15 years and has been a member of the River Valley Senior Hunger Coalition since its inception, giving her insight into the full spectrum of needs of those that she serves.

The Distinguished Older Georgian Award was created in 2003 by the Georgia Council on Aging to honor a positive role model 70 years of age or older who has rendered service to seniors on a large scale and/or has made significant contributions to society through occupational or volunteer efforts.

With the assistance of her husband, Hew Lipscomb, Carolyn runs ACS/SGA, a faith-based social service agency that operates under the 501(C)(3) of the Georgia Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The couple soon will celebrate their 59th anniversary.

Carolyn not only credits Hew as her teammate but as her forklift driver, maintenance man, and everything in between.

In 2001, Carolyn created the Food Bags for the Elderly program to address senior hunger in Crisp County. The program has grown tremendously, now serving approximately 1,900 seniors across 32 counties of south Georgia. The Lipscombs drive an average of 1,500 miles, delivering 20,000-30,000 pounds of food each month. The physical labor of receiving food from the food bank, lifting, preparing, and finally transporting it to those who need it, is a labor of love.

In addition to addressing nutritional needs, Carolyn is a champion of health and wellness, providing free access to health screenings at festivals and wellness fairs across central and south Georgia. As if that wasn’t enough, Carolyn also answers the call to service by jumping into action during declared state disasters, most recently managing the receipt and distribution of donated goods to help Coweta County citizens who were affected by a tornado in 2021.

Accepting the 2023 Distinguished Older Georgian Award with Hew by her side, Carolyn says that she is “greatly humbled and honored” to receive the distinction. She will be recognized at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday 2023 during GCOA’s Senior Day at the Capitol event.

The Georgia Council on Aging was created by the Georgia General Assembly in 1977 to advise the governor, assembly and state agencies on matters relating to the state’s seniors.

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