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<\/p>\n
April 14, 2026 \u2014 Publix honored Jacksonville Division Store Manager Muriel Lawson with a 2026 Mr. George Community Service Award at the company\u2019s annual stockholders\u2019 meeting.<\/p>\n
Muriel developed a passion for volunteering in company programs over a decade ago, when one of her managers emphasized the importance of being a responsible citizen in her community. She began to understand it\u2019s part of the Publix culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat inspires me most to give back is the gratitude I see and feel when helping others,\u201d said Muriel. \u201cBeing asked to come back and serve again reassures me that the work truly matters and makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muriel has been involved with United Way for roughly 11 years. She serves on the board as a Publix representative and contributes on the Personnel Committee, supporting strong leadership, ethical people practices and effective talent management aligned with the organization\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
She consistently encourages her associates to join her in volunteer events \u2014 reminding them that the impact they make is meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing the smiles on my associates\u2019 faces as they realize they\u2019re making a real difference in their community is something I\u2019ll never forget,\u201d said Muriel. \u201cWitnessing that pride and purpose firsthand is incredibly powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muriel believes the most important thing you can give is your time because time is personal and irreplaceable. \u201cWhen you give your time, you\u2019re fully present, and that\u2019s when real connections are made and real change happens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Muriel considers this award a true honor because it represents the heart of Publix and inspires her to continue serving and giving back.<\/p>\n
The next big plan for Muriel is to participate in her district\u2019s Publix Serves event later this month and partner with Pensacola Habitat for Humanity to create opportunities for her associates.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur founder showed us that when you lead with the needs of others in mind, you build more than a business \u2014 you build a community.\u201d Muriel is grateful to be a part of the Publix family, and she follows the guiding philosophy that when you take care of people, everything else follows.<\/p>\n
About Muriel<\/p>\n
Muriel started her Publix career in 2008 as a cashier in Pace, Florida. After working in various roles, she was promoted to customer service manager in 2014 in Daphne, Alabama. Muriel then became an assistant store manager in 2016 and was promoted to her current role as a store manager in 2018 in Pace.<\/p>\n
About the award<\/p>\n
Each year, one associate from each retail division and one support associate are recognized with the Mr. George Community Service Award. The associates are actively involved in their communities and represent the generous spirit of Publix founder George Jenkins.<\/p>\n
Other award recipients<\/p>\n
Muriel joined the rest of this year\u2019s recipients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" April 14, 2026 \u2014 Publix honored Jacksonville Division Store Manager Muriel Lawson with a 2026 Mr.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-231885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}