HIGH POINT, N.C., April 14, 2016 – High Point resident and Navy veteran Raymond McAllister was honored with the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine award on April 14 during a ceremony held at High Point University.
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is awarded by the Governor of North Carolina to a person for exemplary service to the state of North Carolina and their community that is above and beyond the call of duty. This person has also made a significant impact and strengthened North Carolina.
High Point University president Dr. Nido Qubein presented the award on behalf of the governor’s office to McAllister.
“It is an honor for me on behalf of the Governor of North Carolina to present the Order the Long Leaf Pine to a gentleman, scholar, great American, a dedicated High Pointer, a churchman, leader, neighbor and friend,” said Qubein, who received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award in 2005. “He is a person who understands the meaning of stewardship and understands the meaning of the word philanthropy. He is a person who acknowledges, in the words of William Barclay, ‘that we should always receive without forgetting, that we should always give without remembering.’”
McAllister has been an active member of the community since moving to High Point in 1958 after serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He is a retired parole officer and has served on numerous boards and commissions, most recently as chairman of the Salvation Army board.
He was honored as the Sixth District Community Heroes of the Month for March 2016 after launching a clinic to provide dental care to low income families in the city of High Point. Through a partnership with Dr. Ben Williams, practicing dentist in High Point for over 40 years, and the United Way, the clinic is anticipated to open in July 2016.
“As I sit here this afternoon, I am overwhelmed,” said McAllister. “There isn’t a soul in this room that I don’t know. That is something that is amazing. I don’t have a wall full of PhD’s; I don’t have a bank full of money; but there hasn’t been a thing that God has entrusted me to do that I haven’t been able to do, and I thank him for the life that I have lived.”
Other recipients of the Long Leaf Pine award include Maya Angelou, Dale Earnhardt, Michael Jordan, Dean Smith, Andy Griffith and Billy Graham. You can view a full list of recipients here.