Two Hoover residents receive Vulcan Awards

Kim Mitchell said there’s one thing she can count on — her son, James Strong.

And he doesn’t miss a day of living up to his name, she said.

“He’s had more than 20 operations on his brain and spinal cord,” she said. “With every surgery, every hospital stay, every bad news update to where they’ve counted him out and said he has a limited chance of survival, my strong one has persevered and beat the odds through the grace and mercy of God.”

On Nov. 3, he was one of two Hoover residents honored at the third annual Vulcans Community Awards, presented by Vulcan Materials Co.

Award winners are selected from a pool of nominations from the seven-county Birmingham metro area and honor local residents who embody civic pride, leadership and progress.

At every opportunity, Strong, a 15-year-old Spain Park High School student, has mentored other kids with disabilities, inspired his mom to keep pursuing her professional goals and encouraged everyone he meets with his infectious personality, she said.

“He’s a strong kid who has done everything in his own time regardless of what doctors said he could or couldn’t do,” Mitchell said.

He’s played wheelchair basketball. He’s been the Alabama Champion for the Children’s Miracle Network. He’s never stopped pursuing his dreams.

Strong’s commitment to himself and others is what got him nominated for the award.

“With nominations submitted by individuals from throughout our metro region, people whose good work may otherwise go unnoticed will be recognized for their contributions to the betterment of life in our community,” said Darlene Negrotto, president and CEO of Vulcan Park Foundation.

The five award categories are Lifetime Achievement, Servant Leadership, Hero, Game Changer and Newcomer.

Strong was named a Hero, and Hoover resident Jarralynne Agee was named a Game Changer.

Jarralynne Agee’s designation came from her work starting the All Access Sports Medicine Camp, a three-day summer camp in July that gave 50 students in Birmingham City Schools the chance to be exposed to sports medicine and emergency management.

Jarralynne Agee said over the course of his career, her husband, Dr. Robert Agee, was able to give a lot of young people a jump start to a sports medicine track by letting them shadow him.

“But we realized that a lot of these students were coming from over-the-mountain schools and that students in Birmingham … weren’t getting the same opportunity,” Jarralynne Agee said, noting that the programs could be costly. “We wanted to give them the chance to be exposed early to sports medicine.”

So she sought funding and drew up a proposal, and the All Access Sports Medicine Camp was born. 

“We wanted to set the expectation for them to think about these things as careers,” Jarralynne Agee said. “It’s been pretty powerful to see how it impacted them even the first year.”

The writer of her nomination agreed.

“This small act of inspiring students to be better and do more can be a true game changer for our community,” Ashley Thompson wrote. “After all, the students of today make up the adult community of tomorrow and what difference this program can make in inspiring and shaping our future.”

For more information about the awards or the awards ceremony, go to visitvulcan.com/the-vulcans or call 933-1409, ext. 111.