Residents who dedicated the past year toward making their community a better place were honored Tuesday, April 17, during the Board of Supervisors business meeting. The volunteers were honored both for their individual work and for their work as part of a larger group.
The accomplishments of each honoree were read as the volunteers received their award from Loudoun Volunteer Services Board president Debra Bressler. The board honored outstanding youth, adult, public safety and family volunteers from across the county in what Chairman Scott K. York (I-At large) said were "acts of kindness."
Resident Bill Lyden was honored at the Outstanding Adult Public Safety Volunteer for his continued work with the Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad, logging at least 1,000 hours of service per year with the squad. In addition, Lyden serves as chair of the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Recruitment and Retention committee, taking the initiative to apply for grant funds offered through state agencies. Since receiving $300,000 in grants and kicking off the Volunteer Recruitment and Retention campaign in 2006, an additional 130 volunteer members entered the county’s system.
The Andrus family from Sterling were honored as this year’s Outstanding Volunteer Family for their work with the Loudoun Literacy Council’s Sweet Dreams program, where they read to children living in the county’s temporary housing shelter. The family also volunteers for book parties for parents and children involved in the county’s Head Start program. Katrina Andrus, a senior at Potomac Falls High School, recruited other volunteers through the National Honor Society to put together book packages for the more than 100 children enrolled in Head Start.
The Discovery Park project was honored twice this year, for Outstanding Volunteer Project and Outstanding Volunteer Project Leaders for Peter Kronenberg and Valerie Petrey. Residents, volunteers and members of the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority came out to be honored for the work they did to create the new park at Sully Elementary School.
Other individual winners included Shannon Walker, Outstanding Youth Volunteer for her work spearheading the creation of the Loudoun Youth Fest; and Pat Harding, Barbara Kaylor and B.J. Pesi, Outstanding Older Adult Volunteer Team, for their work as the Leesburg Senior Center Advisory Board’s relocation committee, leading to the approval of a new senior center by voters this past November.
Nancy Maniere, founding member of the Middleburg FISH, For Instant and Sympathetic Help, was named the 2007 Volunteer of the Year for her facilitation of the all-volunteer group that provided assistance to more than 150 individuals and families last year.
— Erika Jacobson