A few months ago we asked for nominations for women doing remarkable things in our community and we’re happy to say we received almost 300 nominations.

It was tough but our panel of judges narrowed down the list to four.

The first of our four finalists is Ephie Johnson. Community service is a way of life for her.

Ephie’s parents laid the foundation for her philanthropic spirit. She worked alongside them at the Neighborhood Christian Center, offering food and the basics to the elderly and unhoused, as well as operating after school and summer programs for children.

We’re in our 46th year, and we’re very proud to be able to do this work, she said.

Ephie took the helm in 2008 from her parents.

“If you wanna do something in life, you don’t say I wanna do it. You do what you say you want to do. and, you cannot let can’t, be the driving force,” she said.

The seasoned entrepreneur, using her business acumen, started the center’s  bundt cake business, Holy Cakes, to help sustain its job readiness program and create job opportunities for participants.

“The way that the Lord has shown me is, I put you on this earth as a planter and as a person who helps to grow and train people. I’m going to let you do what you do, but you’re going to have to include other people in it,” she said.

She’s fulfilling that promise in many ways. She started a popcorn shop that doubled as a family project to teach her now adult sons how to run a business.

She also used her musical talents to start the Bluff City Performance Group, creating paid opportunities for other musicians to work.

“Sometimes I’m amazed. It’s remarkable how things have occurred and I’ve been the vessel that God has used to do it and, so I can say I am honored that I can say remarkable things have been done through me, and that I can receive that as an honor because of who did it through me.”