Betty Walraven, a breakperson on the bun production line at Flowers Baking Co. of Batesville, has been honored with the 2022 L.S. Flowers Spirit Award, a national award presented by Flowers Foods across all Flowers locations.
Walraven joined Flowers in 2020, and shortly after she started, she began encouraging others in her hometown of Mountain View to apply for roles at the bakery. She then began organizing carpools to assist her community members with the 45-minute commute – even driving team members to the bakery on her days off.
Walraven and her husband are longtime owners of Walraven’s Ozark Video in Mountain View. According to a release from Flowers, she leveraged the store as a donation site for gently used work pants and safety shoes. Walraven would then clean and provide these items to new bakery employees to ensure they could meet the company’s uniform requirements.
“Betty’s the type of employee that everybody’s looking for; she’s honest, hardworking, and she loves her job and our company,” said Steve Gilliland, plant manager, Flowers Baking Co. of Batesville. “She treats everyone she meets with compassion, and we are proud that she earned this year’s L.S. Flowers Spirit Award.”
Awarded annually, the Flowers Spirit Award program recognizes team members that make an impact both at work and in their communities. Each of its 46 locations can select a local Spirit Award recipient. The highest honor is the L.S. Flowers Spirit Award, which is the national award presented across all Flowers locations. The award was inspired by the late Langdon S. Flowers, past president and chairman of the board of Flowers Foods, who was an active supporter of many charitable organizations.
The L.S. Flowers Spirit Award recipient receives $1,000 to present to the non-profit organization of their choice. Walraven selected St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital as her designated charity.
Learn more about Walraven by watching the video below from Flowers Foods.
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