United Way Celebrates Volunteers
United Way of Mahaska County Volunteer Appreciation Dinner with Crisis Intervention Services staff and Volunteers. (submitted photo)
Thursday, April 12th United Way of Mahaska County recognized over 50 community member-volunteers at the inaugural Volunteer Appreciation Night. According to Community Impact Coordinator Tim Gibson, the volunteers honored play an “instrumental role in supporting United Way and our non-profit partners”. Guests were invited to the Musco Technology Center on William Penn’s campus for an evening of socializing, good eating, awards and a guest speaker.
Giving out the award for Volunteer of the Year was Julie Hyland, United Way of Mahaska County’s accountant. Hyland recognized one volunteer who, “came to me in January 2013, looking for a way to help with the VITA Site and willing to volunteer as many hours as we needed.” The VITA tax program has provided free tax preparation for low income and elderly tax payers and since its inception in Mahaska County 10 years ago, this year alone the program filed over 200 returns for residents of Mahaska County. Robert Schlechter was presented with the Volunteer of the Year award for his dedication to the VITA tax program. Schlechter first became involved in 2013, and has logged over 100 hours each tax season since then. According to Hyland, “his friendly demeanor and willingness to serve are characteristic of what it means to be a great volunteer,”
Presenting the award for Advocate of the Year was United Way of Mahaska County’s Executive Director Amy Meyer. Describing him as someone with “unwavering passion for bettering Mahaska County”, Steve Burnett took home the honor of Advocate of the Year. Meyer recognized Burnett for his ambition and initiative, saying “When Steve hears about a problem, he doesn’t wait for someone else to fix it. He dives in, asks the questions, gets the facts, and moves forward to finding a solution.”
Dan Adams, Vice President of United Way of Mahaska County, took to the stage to present the award for Campaign of the Year. Adams revealed that UWMC exceeded their yearly Campaign Goal of $320,000 due to the generosity and hard work of “many hands”. However, one workplace in Mahaska County went above and beyond, breaking internal goals and setting record levels of staff engagement. Winning the award for Campaign of the Year was Musco Sports Lighting, “one of the longest supporters of United Way in our community”. Citing an employee engagement uptick of 10% and total corporate gifts increase of 19%, Adams says that United Way of Mahaska County is “consistently astounded by the way they support our community and are humbled at their gracious gifts and support they give,”
Following the awards ceremony, guests were treated to a presentation on the benefits of volunteerism by Connie Hammersley-Wilson. Wilson is the Executive Director of the Ottumwa Area Chamber of Commerce and served as an educator in the Ottumwa School District for over 20 years. While in education she developed “Classrooms in the Community”, a program designed to show students the benefits of volunteerism. In nine years, Wilson’s students logged over 775,000 hours of volunteer work. Wilson’s speech focused on the benefits of volunteerism, and the impact it can have on not only those receiving help, but also on those giving. Guests were engaged in an interactive activity that fostered teamwork between our different partner agencies and organizations.
