The Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging Inc. has named Larry Andrzejewski as Knox County’s 2020 Outstanding Senior Citizen.

Andrzejewski is a Vietnam veteran and former school teacher and football coach who has volunteered for approximately 15 hours a week since he retired 13 years ago.

“Ever since I retired, I have been involved in prison ministries,” Andrzejewski told the Mount Vernon News.

At approximately the same time, he also began volunteering at a local hospice. 

“I just wanted to be with people who are going through that stage of life,” he said.

He still found time to volunteer at a Knox County elementary school, and then he began working at a local homeless shelter.

Every Monday, Andrzejewski visits inmates at the Knox County jail.

“I just try to encourage the inmates,” he said. “I truly believe we can encourage people, whether it’s a prison, whether it’s a hospice, whether it’s a homeless shelter.”

He prays with the inmates and offers them a Bible. 

“I have developed some good relationships with these guys, trying to encourage them to get on the right path,” Andrzejewski said. 

He is also active in a group called Starting Point that advocates for the rights of unborn children. The group helps women going through crisis pregnancies, encouraging them to keep their child. Andrzejewski works with the fathers to encourage them to support the mothers during the pregnancies.

“I want to take my abilities and strengths and share them with others,” Andrzejewski said. “Retired people have had phenomenal experiences.... If they are physically able to give back, I encourage them to make themselves available.”

Winners of the Outstanding Senior Citizens award typically volunteer at many different places, Teresa Cook, vice president of administrative services at the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging, said.

“They are staying active well past their retirement age,” she said. “They care about their community and the people in it."