Thanks Given to Whatcom County Volunteers!

Whatcom Volunteer Center holds the annual Heart & Hands Awards event to recognize and celebrate the outstanding service of 65 members of the Whatcom County community.

Congratulations to all the past Heart & Hands Award winners and nominees! Whatcom County is rich in the tremendous vision and work done by volunteers. This is a better community for all their effort.

In 2009, five people were honored with Heart & Hands Awards, which include a $200 donation in their name to the nonprofit of their choice.

The 2009 Heart & Hands honorees were:

David Alter is almost 16 years old. He has been volunteering at the Bellingham Food Bank for four years, since he started volunteering with his father on Wednesday nights. David grew up in the Ukraine and his first language is Russian. He was able to bridge a communication gap between English-speaking volunteers and Russian-speaking clients. David now volunteers Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school and has recruited a group of his friends as volunteers for the food bank. David is a wonderful example for the next generation of volunteers.

Elmo Creech has been giving to our county for years. Currently, he works for the Blaine Food Bank and is always ready to respond to a call to pick up food from a merchant. He also helps out each week with the Blaine Elementary School’s after-school unicycle class. He has volunteered in schools, nursing homes, and senior centers since 1971, lifting the spirits of all he sees with his balloon animals. He also served as a volunteer firefighter with District 7 – Whitehorn. He has lived a life of service, fun, and commitment.

Sean Hall is a leader at Mosaic Church where he helps congregation members give their time to the community. Sean has coordinated volunteers for Make A Difference Day projects and for Project Homeless Connect, and was responsible for helping inform 600 of our homeless neighbors about Project Homeless Connect.

Patrick Healy’s personal history with cancer and his experience with an 11-year-old boy in treatment for terminal brain cancer, stirred him to start Bikers Fighting Cancer. Since 2002, the club has grown to 50 members and three chapters in Washington and Oregon. It is an all-volunteer organization – 100% of the money raised goes to help children with cancer. Patrick’s caring and open personality, along with positive leadership skills, encourages donations and active participation in the program.

Ken & Phyllis Weber served for 18 years for the Friends of the Bellingham Public Library. They put in more than 18,000 hours each and helped raise more than $600,000 to help fund children’s programs, new technology, library furnishings and a rich collection of materials. Phyllis worked sorting donated books an average of five days a week. She has a keen sense of organization and was the “institutional memory” for the Friends of the Library. Ken was the glue that held the Friends organization together – he added a December sale to complement the annual Ski to Sea sale, created “nearly new” shelves to sell popular titles, and added quarterly mini-sales. He also sold rare books through eBay and worked with Once Sold Tales to sell books to a larger audience.

This year is the first year that organizations have been part of the celebration of volunteerism.  The Bellingham Food Bank was honored for the exceptional way they work with volunteers to accomplish their mission.

Whatcom County says a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to these and the other volunteers celebrated in this year’s Heart & Hands Awards celebration.”

Heart & Hands Award Nominees for 2009

♥  David Alter  ♥  Timothy (TJ) Boone  ♥  Jason Bourne  ♥  Jere Boyd  ♥  Andy Brim  ♥
♥  Kelly Bunting  ♥  Gary Burlingame  ♥ Dave Carlton ♥  Noel Collamer  ♥  Alyssa Condon  ♥
♥  Brenna Crain  ♥  Elmo Creech  ♥  Joy Cundle  ♥  Pearl Danielson ♥  Margaret DeMaine  ♥
♥  Rolena Dooyema  ♥  Hobert Ellenberger  ♥ Katy Ferguson  ♥ Victoria Flynn  ♥  Sean Hall  ♥
♥ Mike Hammes  ♥  Noreen Hartley  ♥  Roxanna Hayes  ♥  Patrick Healy  ♥  Lenny Hoffman  ♥
♥  Janet Hofman   ♥  Joe & Jody Hoppis   ♥  Carol Jahn  ♥  Lesley Keefer  ♥  Mike Kelly  ♥
♥  Erin Kenney  ♥  Stephanie Kensinger  ♥  Karl King  ♥  Maura Leveroos  ♥  Tim Lintz  ♥
♥ Chris Matson  ♥  Lyn McClure  ♥  Tyler Morgan  ♥  David Murphy  ♥  Greta Olson  ♥
♥  Makenna Padgett  ♥  Bill Padgett  ♥  Bryn Palmgren  ♥  Theresa Porter  ♥
♥  Maye & Earl Provance ♥ Jeri Reid-Davis  ♥  Lalena Richardson  ♥  William Roberts  ♥
♥  Dorlene Root  ♥    Katherine Scott  ♥  Phil Simmons  ♥ Gloria Smith  ♥  Eden Southworth  ♥
♥  Gene Swagger  ♥ Jerry Swann ♥  Wes Taylor  ♥  Nadine Valerio ♥  Dane Vennewitz  ♥
♥  Angie Verderico  ♥ June Vigor  ♥  Phyllis & Ken Weber  ♥
♥  Rob Weston   ♥  Sharon White  ♥

Nominated for the Organizational Award, honoring exceptional use of volunteers:

♥  Bellingham Food Bank  ♥

♥  Northwest Therapeutic Riding Center  ♥

Generously sponsored by:

♥  BP Cherry Point Refinery  ♥

♥  Mallard Ice Cream  ♥

♥  The Bellingham Herald  ♥

♥  Starbucks Coffee  ♥

♥  Joe’s Garden  ♥

♥  JQ A New Leaf  ♥

Thanks to everyone who helps to make this a better community through volunteering!”