Renae Stackhouse was awarded the Mountaire Farms Better Carolina Award last week by Roger Marino, corporate community relations director for Mountaire Farms. Contributed photo

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LUMBERTON — A Robeson County woman was recently honored for her work with special needs children and families in the county.

Renea Stackhouse, president of the Robeson County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, received the Mountaire Better Carolina Award during a banquet in Lumberton last week.

“Gloriesrenea Stackhouse has devoted countless days and nights in the support and caring for young people who are at personal risk, in need of a mentor, nurse and helping hand,” said Roger Marino, corporate community relations director for Mountaire Farms. “She is the pat on the back, the kind word in the hospital and the personal support in the educational institutions and in the courtroom for children who are at risk to fall short of making it without strong, caring leadership.”

Stackhouse, a former paramedic and a mother of three, founded the advocacy group Bringing About Change, which works works with families and students with special needs in the hope of preventing school dropouts and other behavioral problems, according to a statement from Mountaire Farms. She regularly attends juvenile court as an advocate for juvenile justice and fairness for youth.

Stackhouse was presented with the first Mountaire Better Carolina Award and will be featured on select WRAL-TV commercial vignettes in hopes that her story will encourage others to “better” Carolina.

The Better Carolina Award is a monthly honor created to highlight local individuals, businesses, civic organizations or classrooms that are going above and beyond in their effort to assist others in the community or to improve and protect the local environment.

Mountaire Farms is an agricultural food processing company with more than 6,000 employees at facilities in Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina, including a facility in Lumber Bridge.