2012 Lt. Governor’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet

2012 Lt. Governor’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet
Judge Valdez to keynote event honoring 11 state volunteer award winners, including the Sister of St. Benedict

 SALT LAKE CITY- Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell and the Utah Commission on Volunteers will present eleven State Volunteer Service Awards and celebrate volunteer efforts throughout the state at the Lieutenant Governor’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet on April 25 at the Davis Conference Center. These awards, presented annually as part of the Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service, celebrate the extraordinary volunteer efforts of Utahns across the state.

The two most prestigious awards being the Lt. Governor’s Civic Volunteer of the Year Award and the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The 2012 Lt. Governor’s Civic Volunteer of the Year Award will be presented to Lennie Don Porter, former Escalante City Mayor and long-time volunteer firefighter. Mr. Porter has met many needs in his community, through his involvement in civic affairs as well as in his capacity as a first-responder.

The 2012 Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to The Sister of the Order of St. Benedict. Sixty- six years ago, compassion for the sick and suffering brought the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict to Ogden for the purpose of founding a hospital. When the hospital was sold, it brought an end to their sponsorship in the hospital, but the sisters were undeterred and their volunteer efforts have grown exponentially since then.

 “These honorees are a powerful force for good in our communities,” said Lt. Governor Greg Bell. “They are a shining example of the transformative power of service on those who serve as well as the communities around them.”

The Commission is pleased to have the banquet keynote speaker will be Judge Andrew Valdez, Third District Court Judge. Judge Valdez will be addressing the importance of volunteerism in Utah as well as in his personal life.

New to the Banquet this year is the Transforming Communities Recognition that will honor President Ann Millner and the Weber State University Community Involvement Center for their work in transforming the community in Northern Utah.

Media are encouraged to attend the evening’s activities: Private reception for honorees at 5:45pm in the Zephyr Room and the Banquet Program begins at 6:30pm in the Expo Center at Davis Conference Center.

# # #

2012 Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service General Session

2012 Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service General Session
Tammi DeVille to keynote Conference Luncheon on Wednesday

SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah Commission on Volunteers will be hosting the Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service April 25 at the Davis Conference Center. The Conference is dedicated to improving volunteer management in Utah and attendees represent the nonprofit, government, faith-based, and corporate sectors.

Lt. Governor Greg Bell will kick off the 2012 Conference on Service, April 25^th at 8:30 am.  Additional morning keynotes are Natalie Gochnour from the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce and Kaira Esgate with Reimagining Service.  Each will be speaking to the impact volunteers have in addressing community needs.

The general session day will be filled with over 30 workshops for the 600 attendees to choose from, each of which was chosen to represent the varying needs of conference attendees. Workshop topics are centered on volunteer management in Utah, the #1 state in the nation for volunteer rates.

Lt. Governor Bell and the Utah Commission on Volunteers are pleased to announce that the 2012 luncheon keynote speaker will be Tammi DeVille, author of Changing the World on a Tuesday Night. Her book focuses on people in the United States that are making a big difference in their communities, through small acts of service. DeVille will be highlighting some of the volunteer work done in Utah during her address and is scheduled to speak at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 25.

 “In keeping with the 2012 Conference on Service theme, Volunteerism: Changing Communities, we are thrilled to have a keynote that can speak to directly to the impact the volunteering has,” said Susan Hayward, Community Outreach Manager with the Utah Commission of Volunteers. “Tammi is uniquely able to highlight volunteer efforts in Utah, as well as those in her book, in a way that will appeal to all of our attendees.”

Media are encouraged to attend any of the conference’s events.  For more information, contact LaDawn Stoddard 801-815-3251

###

The Commission on Volunteers Invites Youth to Participate in Utah’s 2012 Global Youth Service Day

The Commission on Volunteers Invites Youth to Participate in Utah’s 2012 Global Youth Service Day

Salt Lake City – From April 20-22, 2012, the Utah Commission on Volunteers will join with youth organizations throughout the state to encourage youth to participate in Global Youth Service Day (GYSD).

Established in 1988, Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world and the only day of service dedicated to children and youth. It is an annual campaign to mobilize millions of children and youth globally and locally to improve their communities through service and volunteering.

“Engaging youth in volunteering creates a foundation of service that lasts a lifetime,” said Lt. Governor Greg Bell. “If we can get our young people to serve in their the communities now, Utah will continue to be a state filled with kind, charitable individuals prepared to serve and help others, well into the future.”

In 2011, there were over 38 service projects from Utah registered on the Global Youth Service Day website, www.gysd.org, which involved almost 1,500 youth. This year, the Utah Commission on Volunteers hopes to see an increase in those numbers. One of the participating organizations this year is The Utah Federation for Youth. Their service projects this year include Columbus Center After School youth participants painting murals at the Senior Citizen Center in South Salt Lake, SSL Youth City Council planting trees at Fitts Park, the Academy for Math Engineering, and Science hosting a dental care benefit event for low-income populations, and youth in South Salt Lake translating emergency informational materials from the Fire Department into other languages.

“Service should be the base of humanity. We all should be looking for what we can do for others, projects large and small are of equal importance and this experience for the youth is great," said DeBee Stidham, Utah Federation for Youth representative. “Involving youth in service through Global Youth Service Day, can be the start of something that will grow to become part of their lives.”

Planning is underway for youth-led projects that address challenging local, national and global issues such as environmental conservation, childhood hunger and civil rights. Examples of local projects planned for Global Youth Service Day 2012 include:

The Living Planet Aquarium: The Living Planet Aquarium has planned four unique service events that will be held April 20^th  to 22nd that center on environmental cleanup and restoration. Projects will take place at the Jordan River, Wasatch Hollow, the Living Planet Aquarium and Hidden Hollow and hundreds of youth are expected to be involved. Contact Melissa @ (801) 495-4888 for more information.

Real Life in Salt Lake City: At Real Life in SLC, an afterschool youth mentoring program designed to help refugee youth become acculturated to life in Salt Lake City by forming friendships with Utah youth of the same age, refugee youth will assemble backpacks and write letters to new refugee youth that will be arriving in Salt Lake City in 2012. Contact Julia @ (801) 467-4417 for more information regarding this April 20th GYSD project.

Service to the World: Held on Saturday, April 21st from 11-2 PM at the BYU Wilkinson Student Center, Service to the World will be working with youth on projects that will ultimately be sent to a schools in Uganda. Projects include file folder games that teach colors, arithmetic, multiplication, division, shapes (lots of coloring), hand puppets, hygiene kits, blankets, hats, nutrition posters, and public health education posters and books. Contact Martina @ (801) 857-5969 for more information.

 To learn more about Utah’s 2012 Global Youth Service Dayvisit www.volunteers.utah.gov or contact Amanda McDonald, Utah Commission on Volunteers Program Specialist at 801.715.6717. For more information on Global Youth Service Day, visit www.gysd.org.

 ###

2012 Commission on Volunteers Award Winners Announced Judge Valdez to keynote event honoring 10 state volunteer award winners .

2012 Commission on Volunteers Award Winners Announced Judge Valdez to keynote event honoring 10 state volunteer award winners .

SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah Commission on Volunteers have announced the recipients of the 2012 State Volunteer Recognition Awards:

• The Sisters of St. Benedict, Governor’s Lifetime Achievement
• Lennie Don Porter, Lt. Governor’s Civic Volunteer of the Year
• Vivint, Corporate Volunteer Program of the Year
• Draper Parks & Trails, Government Volunteer Program of the Year
• The Happy Factory, Nonprofit Volunteer Program of the Year
• Brianna Toone, AmeriCorps Member of the Year
• Michele Nicks, AmeriCorps VISTA Member of the Year
• Bobbie Maberry, Encore Volunteer of the Year
• Michelle Groncki, Adult Volunteer of the Year
• Steven Darrel Olsen, Youth Volunteer of the Year

The 10 state award winners will be honored April 25 at the 2012 Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet. The banquet is the culminating event of the Lieutenant Governor’s Conference on Service and will honor and recognize the achievements of some of the most outstanding volunteers and volunteer programs in Utah.

The Utah Commission on Volunteers is pleased to announce that the 2012 banquet keynote speaker will be Judge Andrew A Valdez, Third District Juvenile Court Judge in Salt Lake City. Judge Valdez will be addressing the importance of volunteerism in Utah as well as in his personal life. Valdez is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25.

 
“The 2012 state volunteer award winners showcase some of the inspiring volunteer work taking place in Utah” said Lt. Governor Greg Bell. “These award winners are a powerful force for good in the community and I am pleased to honor them.”

In addition to the 10 state volunteer award winners, Ann Millner & the Weber State University Community Involvement Center will be honored with the Transforming Communities Recognition for their work in Northern Utah.

Media are encouraged to attend any of the Conference on Service and Volunteer Recognition & Awards Banquet events. For more information, contact Geoffrey Fattah at (801) 386-4755.

AmeriCorps Week Spotlights How AmeriCorps Works in Utah

AmeriCorps Week Spotlights How AmeriCorps Works in Utah

Lieutenant Governor Bell Thanks Utahns for their service during AmeriCorps Week

(Salt Lake City) Every day in communities across the nation, AmeriCorps members are improving schools, rebuilding after disasters, providing health services, preserving the environment, fighting poverty, and meeting other local needs. Utah is no exception, with over 400 members currently serving to meet the needs in communities throughout the state. From increasing high school graduation rates and grade level reading proficiencies to mentoring at-risk youth and restoring public lands, these everyday AmeriCorps heroes are strengthening Utah communities as they transform their own lives.

This week (March 10^th – 18^st) is national AmeriCorps Week and people all across Utah are thanking the AmeriCorps members who work quietly and without fanfare across the state to improve the lives of thousands of our most vulnerable citizens. The theme for 2012, AmeriCorps Works, communicates the value and effectiveness and helps conveys the AmeriCorps triple bottom line return on investment -- for the recipients of service, the people who serve, and the larger community and nation.

 Because of AmeriCorps members over 12,464 youth are receiving tutoring in math and reading, over 5,760 acres of habitat were restored on public lands, and nearly 25,000 people were assisted with health care related issues. AmeriCorps members are also tasked with bringing community volunteers into the organizations in which they serve and in 2011, AmeriCorps members across Utah recruited and trained over 31,000 community volunteers who served over 308,000 hours. These recruited volunteers bring an estimated $5.5 million dollars worth of service into Utah’s economy.

“We are grateful for the work of AmeriCorps members in Utah,” said Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell. “Their service is a model for how government and local community organizations can partner for success.”

 In 2011, the Commission was awarded $3.4 million in federal grant funding that was passed through to 13 State AmeriCorps Programs. These programs matched the federal dollars with over $6.6 million. In exchange for a year of full-time service, members earn an education award equal to the maximum amount of the Pell Grant that can be used to pay for educational expenses at qualified institutions of higher education, or to pay back qualified student loans. Awards are pro-rated for part-time service. Some members also receive a living allowance and health care.

 

“AmeriCorps Weeks is an opportunity to trumpet the impact of AmeriCorps service to transform lives and communities. In this time of fiscal constraint, AmeriCorps is a highly cost effective and impactful program.” said LaDawn Stoddard, Acting Executive Director of the Utah Commission on Volunteers.

 
The mission of the Utah Commission on Volunteers, an office of the Lieutenant Governor, is to improve communities through service and volunteering. It furthers its mission by promoting community collaboration, volunteer recognition, youth and older adult service and administering federally funded AmeriCorps and National Service programs. The Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service, State Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet, Summer of Service, and the statewide volunteer matching website, www.volunteers.utah.gov, are also premiere programs of the Utah Commission on Volunteers. For more information, visit www.volunteers.utah.gov or call 1-888-755-UTAH.

 

###

Utah Residents Mark the Beginning of a Year of Service on MLK Day

Volunteers across the state serve as part of a National Day of Service
 
[Salt Lake City] – The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 16, marks the beginning of the 2012 year of service as millions of Americans honor the memory of Dr. King by contributing their time, talent, voice and money to improve their communities.
 

The Utah Commission on Volunteers and the Corporation for National and Community Service are encouraging local residents to join the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country in making the holiday “a day on, not a day off”, by serving others.

“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. committed his life to service and to ensuring that all people are treated with respect and fairness,” said LaDawn Stoddard, Acting Executive Director of the Utah Commission on Volunteers.  “By serving today and throughout the year, we honor Dr. King and help realize his dream of equality and opportunity for all.”

The Utah Commission on Volunteers is working with seven volunteer connector organizations this January to provide opportunities for Utah residents to serve on this year’s MLK Day.

 

MLK Day Activities will be held between Jan 14^th and Jan 24^th

 

The Cache Valley Volunteer Center and the Utah State University PALs mentoring program will be hosting an “I Have a Dream” reception for at-risk youth in local mentoring programs and students at in the Logan School District will be invited to submit their “I Have a Dream” service project idea based on something they would like to see improved at their school.

 

Volunteers for the Thayne Learning and Service Center at Salt Lake Community College will participate in one of several projects that will include sorting through food donations, assembling food boxes distributed to low-income seniors in the Salt Lake Valley and mobile food boxes distributed to rural parts of the state of Utah. The projects will take place January 16, 2012, 9:00am- 12:00pm.

 

United Way of Northern Utah will partner with Ogden City schools to sponsor an essay contest for 5^th graders to complement the core requirement for a five paragraph essay on a US History subject. The topic will highlight a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.. Winners will be published in a publication of Martin Luther King quotes. 

 

The United Way of Salt Lake is partnering with several organizations including the Maliheh Free Clinic, where staff and volunteers will conduct volunteer awareness and recruiting events at various locations. Playworks Salt Lake City will hold a Community Night for training students and families on games they can play with kids for basic conflict resolution strategies.  

 

The Friends of Washington County Volunteer Center, through their Upward Bound program, will host a carnival for veterans and their families, including games, food and a short service by some veterans. The Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) of Washington and Iron Counties will be collecting the food from the stations and packaging it to the appropriate food pantries.

 

Weber State University Community Involvement Center (CIC) will partner with National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in hosting a community breakfast and a Freedom Walk. CIC will also partner with St. Anne’s Homeless Shelter, Anything for a Friend, LINUS Project and Habitat for Humanity for various projects throughout the week.

 

The United Way of Utah County will be hosted a Community Outreach Day on January 16th. Volunteers will come to the BYU Wilkinson Center and sign up for a project between 8:30-9:30 AM, with a devotional from 9:30-10:00 AM and projects lasting until about 12 noon. There will be nearly 30 service projects that people can choose to participate in during the event.

 

To learn more about and participate in these MLK Day activities please visit volunteers.utah.gov.

 

The Corporation for National and Community Service, in partnership with State Service Commissions, sponsors annual MLK Day of Service projects, through local nonprofits. Projects are taking place in all fifty states and include delivering meals, refurbishing schools and community centers, collecting food and clothing, signing up mentors, reading to children, promoting nonviolence, and more. 

 
The mission of the Utah Commission on Volunteers, an Office of the Lieutenant Governor, is to improve communities through service and volunteerism. For more information visit our website www.volunteers.utah.gov

###

Lt. Governor Greg Bell Honors Utah’s Top Summer of Service Volunteers

Summer of Service Winners Receive Private Luncheon and Presidential Service Award

SALT LAKE CITY – In recognition of receiving the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, Lt. Governor Greg Bell and the Utah Commission on Volunteers are honoring three outstanding Utahns on September 27^th, 2011 with a private luncheon held in their honor. The awardees contributed the most hours of volunteer service in their age category between June 1 and August 31 as part of the Utah Summer of Service. This year over 650 volunteers participated in the program and between them they served over 20,000 hours.

Daniel Ovard age 13, Shannon Babb age 23, and Dale Greenland age 53, recorded the most service hours in their age categories over the past three months, earning both a Presidential Service Award and lunch with Lt. Governor Bell.

“Volunteering is at the heart and soul of Utah and it is with great personal pride that I recognize these three Utahns for their service this summer,” says Bell.  “Let their examples serve as inspiration for all of us to increase our level of volunteerism in our local communities”.

Thirteen year-old Daniel Ovard volunteered 236 hours with the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City. He was the lead youth volunteer at the aquarium for the summer responsible for leading the youth volunteer program. He also spent considerable time doing research on a praying mantis project, evaluating its cost, time requirements, and feasibility for the volunteers to manage at the aquarium.

“I chose to volunteer at the Living Planet Aquarium because I was interested in marine biology and wanted to give something back to the community,” says Ovard. “I found volunteering a fun way to spend my summer.”

Twenty three year-old Shannon Babb, a student at Utah State University, volunteered over 400 hours with the Living Planet Aquarium as well. During her service Shannon discovered that there was a lack of knowledge relating to Utah Waterways. Shannon stepped in and over the summer did all of the research to design several dozen Utah tanks. She also was involved in calculating how many fish and of what species should go in which tank, as well as gathered all of the source data that would be needed for future signage.

“As a student at Utah State University, I feel lucky to live in a state that emphasizes both service and education in our communities,” says Babb. “Volunteering at the Living Planet Aquarium gave me the unique opportunity to not only give back that community, but to teach the public about the importance of water quality, and hopefully inspire the next generation to become interested in a subject I am very passionate about, exploring the natural world.”

Dale Greenland, age 53, from Magna, volunteered his time with the Community Action Program Food Bank in Magna. At the CAP of Magna, Dale could be found separating food into individual orders for incoming clients, unloading trucks with new supplies for the day, and separating the food into categories. Recently the local church organizations in Magna held a food run and collected 7 truck loads of food for the Magna office. This required some additional hours from Dale on Saturday’s but he felt like it was well worth his time.

“The Magna community donated huge quantities of non perishables and I would like to personally thank them,” says Greenland. “The Magna Community Action Program has been great to volunteer for and I enjoy giving back.”

In addition to the three top volunteers, all volunteers ages 5 to 14 who logged more than 50 hours of service, and those ages 15 and older who served more than 100 hours will also be honored with a Presidential Service Award and Recognition Pin.

Interviews Opportunities are available at the press conference with:

·         Lt. Governor Greg Bell

·         Dale Greenland, Adult Award Winner

·         Shannon Babb, Young Adult Award Winner

·         Daniel Ovard, Youth Award Winner

·         Melissa Bowers, The Living Planet Aquarium Volunteer Coordinator

·         Shar Lewis, Executive Director Utah Commission on Volunteers

 

Visuals Available at Press Conference

·         Lt Governor presenting awards to top volunteers

 

Press Kit Available

·         Summer of Service Fact Sheet

·         Award Winner Biographies & Photos

·         Commission on Volunteers Fact Sheet

·         Press Release

 

The mission of the Utah Commission on Volunteers, an office of the Lieutenant Governor, is to improve communities through service and volunteering. For more information on the Commission on Volunteers, and various volunteering opportunities across the state, log onto www.volunteers.utah.gov.