Red Cross volunteers help in Colorado
Snohomish County American Red Cross volunteers Fred Breedlove of Bothell and Steve Taylor of Gold Bar are serving in Loveland, Colo., this week with the wildfire-fighting effort.
Taylor is logistical chief with the group providing supplies and transportation. Breedlove is working as the supervisor for community partnerships with United Way, Salvation Army and local churches.
Breedlove took time to speak on the phone late last week from Colorado.
“I’m with the crew working to help people who have been burned out of their homes,” Breedlove said. “It’s going to be awhile until these fires are contained.”
Breedlove, 65, has been a Red Cross volunteer for more than three years and previously has served across the country in areas damaged by flooding, tornadoes and hurricanes.
When not deployed for the Red Cross, Breedlove is a chaplain at Valley General Hospital in Monroe and at Merry Haven in Snohomish. He also volunteers with Snohomish County Search and Rescue and has been involved in short-term missions work in Sri Lanka and Kenya.
“I don’t get paid for any of this volunteer work, but I get a lot of satisfaction from being able to help so many people during their times of need,” Breedlove said.
Dentist awards good deeds essay contest winner
Everett dentist Colleen Tracy launched a Do A Good Deed essay contest this spring open to people 18 years old and younger who perform good deeds.
A large number of excellent essays were submitted, Tracy said, and the winning essay was written by 15-year-old Jose Perez. His prize is a new laptop computer.
Perez, who attended Olympic Middle School in Mukilteo, spent time helping children at the Mukilteo Boys and Girls club with their studies and homework.
“To me, good deeds can come in all sizes — they can either be big or small, they can be from holding a door for someone to volunteering for a good cause,” Jose said.
Mukilteo City Councilwoman Jennifer Gregerson was on hand when Jose received his prize from Tracy. His efforts are among the things that make Mukilteo a wonderful place to live, Gregerson said.
Inspired by young people who volunteer, Tracy plans to offer discounts to local people who schedule dental cleanings and checkups by July 4. She plans to donate proceeds to the Volunteers of America food bank. Details are at dentisteverettwa.com.
Marsh recognized for service
The Arlington Garden Club presented Terry Marsh with the annual Myrtle Ruckert Award for outstanding community service.
Marsh taught building trades and technology for 30 years. He was a project manager for the new Arlington High School and several local elementary schools. He has worked on Kiwanis Club projects and makes many of the garden art features that people use to promote Arlington. He volunteers at retirement homes and is well known for the wreaths and birdhouses he makes for fundraisers.
Everett Scouts earn their Bronze
Everett Girl Scout Troop 53243 has earned its Bronze Award.
To accomplish this, the members came up with a plan to donate toys and food to the Purrfect Pals cat shelter near Arlington. The girls made yarn cat toys and kitty treats. The girls enjoyed a tour of the facilities and learned about the cats that live there. Throughout the project, the Scouts learned how to compromise and work as a team to accomplish their goal.
Under the direction of troop leader Jennifer Stauffer, troop members include Makenzie Neumann, Lexus Moy, Makayla Neumann, Tea Einarsen, Sierra Stauffer, Nikki Burrell, Kameron Reno and Breana Lutcavich.
Student volunteers of the month
The Marysville Community Food Bank board of directors has selected the students from the Marysville School District as the volunteers of the month for June.
The award recognizes the support that students provide the food bank throughout the school year. During the holidays, no group solicits more food to support the Food Bank than the schools, said Dell Deierling, director of the Marysville Community Food Bank.
Senior projects have been performed for the benefit of the food bank, many students volunteer there after school and during the summer, and students provide the backbone for the work performed during the annual Letter Carriers Food Drive.
Special recognition was given to the Marysville Pilchuck High School Life Skills class and Volunteer Club, the 18-21 program students and the NJROTC students.
Students ask mayor in for Q&A session
Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert visited Post Middle School in June at the request of seventh-graders Sophia Curnett and Mya Shirley.
Social studies teachers Mike Preisinger and Melinda Skyles brought their classes to a meeting prepared to ask questions of the mayor.
Questions included why she ran for office and what is the city’s role in supporting local businesses such the Olympic Theatre. Students also asked about the possibility of a public pool in Arlington.
YMCA honors volunteers
The YMCA of Snohomish County honored its outstanding policy, program, youth and campaign volunteers at a recognition breakfast June 13 at the Everett Golf &Country Club.
Recognized as the 2011-2012 YMCA of Snohomish County Volunteers of the Year were Ann Gifford, Dan Gunderson, Marisa Meinke and Neely Stratton of Big Brothers Big Sisters; Dru Miller, John Provazek, Judy Pascale and Kelly Shepherd of Everett Family YMCA; Gary Way, Anthony Roon, Haman Singh and the Lippmann family of Marysville Family YMCA; Sharon Blomquist, Jason Lucas, Tallie Kaur and Krista Burkhart of Mill Creek Family YMCA; Joyce Robbins, Sally King, Jose Perez and Margaret Bridge of Monroe/Sky Valley YMCA; Mike Longoria, Greg Abbey, Gretchen Reynolds and Nick Gottuso of Mukilteo Family YMCA; and Doug Ferguson, Jim McNally and Roy Yates of the board of trustees of YMCA of Snohomish County.
More than 2,130 volunteers donated a total of 43,000 hours to the Y last year.
For more information, go to ymca-snoco.org.
To submit news for the Applause column, contact reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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