Central Oregon volunteers received Oregon Governor’s Volunteer Awards including Consumer Cellular, Redmond, winner of Large Business Volunteer Program award, William Hayes, Sisters, volunteer for Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department, winner of Adult Volunteer award and Friends of the Oregon Badlands Wilderness, Bend, winner of Not-for-Profit Volunteer Program award
The winners are each invited to the Governor’s Volunteer Awards Luncheon in Salem on April 24, where they’ll receive their award. In addition, they each get to designate a nonprofit or government agency to which they want us to make a donation on their behalf. The money comes from Wells Fargo, presenting sponsor for the awards.
Some of the most outstanding volunteers from throughout Oregon will be recognized for their hard work and achievements at the 2014 Governor’s Volunteer Awards Luncheon 11:30-1:30pm on Thursday, April 24, at the Salem Conference Center, 200 Commercial St. SE.
The awards will honor 22 individuals or duos and 10 volunteer programs. Of those, eight will be state-level awards, and 24 will be regional awards (see winners list below). The winners serve in areas stretching from Medford to Portland and Newport to Ontario, and places in between.
“These volunteers represent the very best of Oregon,” said Governor Kitzhaber. “They have found and filled needs in their community, using common purpose, compassion, and ingenuity to make a huge and lasting difference. I congratulate and thank them for their service.”
The luncheon is open to the public. Tickets are $30 and must be purchased by April 17 at: www.oregonvolunteers.org/events/gva/2014. The Oregon Volunteers Commission for Voluntary Action and Service organizes the awards program. Wells Fargo sponsors the awards and will make a cash grant to a nonprofit organization selected by each winner.
“Through their skilled labor and professional services, board service, or simply lending an ear and providing friendship, the honorees’ dedication to volunteerism has helped create stronger, more vibrant Oregon communities,” said Wells Fargo Regional President Tracy Curtis, who volunteers frequently. The winners of this year’s awards emerged from an extraordinary competition. Oregon Volunteer received a record 114 nominations this year, a 46 percent increase over the last awards. Volunteer engagement leaders from across the state carefully reviewed the nominations to select the winners.
State-Level Winners
Youth Volunteer:Grant Crim of Coquille
American Cancer Society Volunteer
Diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at the age of 22 months, Grant Crim has devoted himself to supporting the American Cancer Society, especially through his support of the Relay for Life fundraiser. A past relay participant, Crim joined his local Relay for Life of South Coos County event planning committee in August 2012 as the team development chair. He recruited new teams, mentored existing teams, prepared monthly meeting agendas, facilitated monthly team captain meetings and served as spokesman for his local event. Averaging 15-20 hours per week in Relay for Life volunteer service, Crim has put in about 1,560 hours since 2012. He shares his personal story of survivorship at local civic clubs, high school assemblies and Relay for Life events. He wrote and helped produce a song and several videos about his experiences spreading awareness about cancer and fundraising. In memory of his late friend Natalie Hill, he started a national #LLLN (Live Life Like Natalie!) fundraising and cancer awareness campaign.
Adult Volunteer: Christy Martinez of Carlton
City of Carlton Police Department Volunteer
The Carlton Police Department is an accredited police agency because of Christy Martinez. The department has only three full-time officers and no support staff. Over the past two years, Martinez has volunteered to help with support staff duties. She created a high professional level for operating standards at the agency, allowing it to receive accreditation earlier this year. She volunteered about 125 hours per month on the accreditation project alone. In addition, she established a Child Identification Day in Carlton to coincide with a national effort to protect children, and she is instrumental in facilitating Project 365, a year-long community improvement project associated with National Night Out. Over the past 25 years, she has been involved in Relay for Life, Make A Wish Foundation, basketball coaching and many other efforts. Many people had no idea she with diagnosed with cancer five years ago because, despite how she felt physically, she rarely missed work or volunteer obligations.
Elder Volunteers: Ronald Verini and Douglas Dean of Ontario
Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida Volunteers
Brothers Ronald Verini and Douglas Dean started the nonprofit Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida in 2008. The all-volunteer organization’s mission is to provide a voice for, support and honor, recognize and advocate for veterans, active-duty military and their families. The organization, with nearly 100 volunteers, provides space where people can come to find resources and assistance, as well as camaraderie. The resources include help with benefits and financial and mental health assistance. One veteran said he wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Verini and Dean. The veteran was close to ending his life when these two award winners helped him see how important he was and that he had a place in society. In addition to starting and volunteering at Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida, Verini has served on the City Council for eight years, and Dean is a consultant for the Treasure Valley Community College BizCenter. They are both Ontario Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and serve on the Visitors and Convention Board.
Youth Volunteer Program: Josephine County Foundation of Grants Pass
Josephine County Foundation is a high school student-led organization that serves a key role in an economically depressed community. In fall 2011, guided by teachers and community leaders, students from Hidden Valley High School formed the foundation, which now has student officers from all five high schools in Josephine County. The foundation teaches students about philanthropy, community service project planning, nonprofit management, fundraising and more. Through grant writing and other fundraising, the students have raised $160,000 for community projects and scholarships. For example, they held a free vision clinic in December 2012 that provided eye exams and glasses to 150 low-income residents. One eyeglasses recipient cried afterward, saying it was the first time she’d been able to clearly see her granddaughter. Other projects included a “Care Faire” that provided free dental cleanings, a needs assessment of all fire stations in the county and a “Business Bootcamp” for middle school students.
Not-for-Profit Volunteer Program: Josephine Community Libraries of Grants Pass
Without the volunteers at Josephine Community Libraries, 83,000 Oregonians wouldn’t have access to a public library. Josephine Community Libraries formed in fall 2007, after the county closed its libraries due to funding cuts and the failure of a ballot initiative for a library district. The nonprofit today operates all the county’s libraries, with volunteers filling core roles: cataloging and shelving books, providing information to library users, hosting children’s story times, checking books in and out, marketing, communications, fundraising, outreach, facilities maintenance and more. The system has 360 dedicated volunteers. About 2,500 patrons check out items from the libraries each month, and 1,700 patrons use the public Internet computers. The system also has special programs for children: First Steps for toddlers, K-9 Reading Buddies for young readers, story times and the Summer Reading Program. It also has the Expanding Opportunities Program, which provides deeper access to library resources and community partners, helping people improve their prospects in education, employment and entrepreneurship.
Large Business Volunteer Program: Willamina Lumber of Willamina
The employees have rallied to help their community in many ways. They’ve formed a committee that identifies community needs and projects to address them, and it sets financial goals to meet those needs. Employees have competitions for deductions from their paychecks to make donations. They’ve donated thousands of dollars to causes ranging from Christmas presents for low-income families in Sheridan and Willamina to a youth program called “Night Court” that provides youth sports programs in the evenings. They’ve built swing sets in the park, planted flowers in town and cut wood and donated it to keep people warm. They not only hold food drives and donate enough food to last the food bank for three months, but they volunteer at the food bank to put the food away. The local churches and other organizations try their best to meet the needs in the community, but not one could even come close to meeting them without the mill and its employees.
Statewide Business Volunteer Program: Fred Meyer Volunteer Program of Portland
Fred Meyer’s volunteers support many causes throughout Oregon. For example, for more than 15 years, Fred Meyer has supported SOLVE, an organization that organizes volunteers to improve the environment. In 2013, Fred Meyer employees donated more than 1,000 service hours to SOLVE’s Spring Beach Cleanup, Project Oregon and Fall Beach and Riverside Cleanup. They pulled invasive weeks, planted native shrubs and trees and cleared watersheds and coastlines of trash. The company has also been a national corporate team member of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for nine years. Company volunteers field 50 teams at 32 Relay for Life events across Oregon. In addition, the employees encourage people to get screened, refer people to the 24/7 phone line, donate hair for wigs for chemotherapy patients and collect toys for kids going through cancer. Fred Meyer provides sponsorship dollars based on the level of commitment of its employees volunteering for a cause.
Lifetime Achievement: Fred Smith of Roseburg
Court-Appointed Special Advocates of Douglas County, Special Olympics, Umpqua Gleaners Volunteer Fred Smith has spent more than two decades volunteering at numerous organizations. For the past 20 years, he has served as an advocate for children in the foster care system through CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) of Douglas County. He has volunteered for 18 years for Special Olympics, serving as program assistant, area outreach chair, coach, games director, area fundraiser, public relations director and organizer of the Law Enforcement Torch Run. For the past 23 years, Smith has volunteered for Umpqua Gleaners, helping to harvest and deliver food for low-income residents. When harvest is over, Smith helps split wood for low-income and disabled households. He has also served for 20 years as a board member for Douglas County’s Child Advocacy Center, Douglas CARES. Smith says the violence he saw at home and during World War II left an impact on his soul that’s manifested in his volunteerism today.
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Regional Winners Youth Volunteers
• Morgen Brown (Milton-Freewater) – Fill a Backpack, Make a Smith
• Raven “Bree” Miotke (Salem) – Chain Reaction Club
• Taylor Vaandering (Aloha) – Oregon District 4 Little League Challenger Baseball
Adult Volunteers
• William Hayes (Sisters) – Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department
• Gigi Lambert (Portland) – Portland Council PTA Clothing Center
• Margo McAlpine (Grants Pass) – Rogue Valley Youth Correctional Facility
• Jaymi Silbernagel (Scio) – Lourdes Public Charter School
Elder Volunteers
• Rosalie Betschart (Portland) – Albertina Kerr • Chris Hull (Hermiston) – Umatilla Court-Appointed Special Advocates
• JL Liddane (Dayton) – Greater Yamhill Watershed Council • Wanda Nesbit (Rogue River) – Rogue River Mural Society
• Brad Smith (Corvallis) – Benton Habitat for Humanity
• Judi Swift (Portland) – American Cancer Society
Not-for-Profit Volunteer Program
• Calvary Baptist Soup Kitchen (Newport)
• Dallas Fire Extrication Team (Dallas)
• Friends of the Oregon Badlands Wilderness (Bend)
• Store to Door (Portland)
Large Business Volunteer Program
• Consumer Cellular (Redmond)
• Portland General Electric “PGE Volunteers” (Portland)
Lifetime Achievement
• Doug Leash (The Dalles) – Old St. Peter’s Landmark
• Karen Manfrin (McMinnville) – Yamhill County Court-Appointed Special Advocates
• Phillip Margolin (Portland) – Chess for Success
• Cyndi Monson (Medford) – American Cancer Society Cancer Resource Center at Providence Medford Medical Center
• Sigrid Scully (Hood River) – Start Making A Reader Today, Foster Grandparent Program, Oregon Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Oregon Volunteers is the State Commission for Voluntary Action and Service. Its mission is to strengthen our communities by inspiring Oregonians to actively engage, volunteer and serve. Oregon Volunteers promotes and supports AmeriCorps, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), volunteerism and civic engagement to strengthen Oregon communities.
Serving Oregonians since 1852, Wells Fargo & Company is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.5 trillion in assets. The company provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance services. Last year Wells Fargo employees volunteered 1.69 million hours and, for the fifth year in a row, donated more to the United Way than any other company’s workforce.
