Rice recognized as top volunteer
United Way of Snohomish County presented Donna Rice with the 2012 Roger Bouck Award during a pregame ceremony on Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Everett AquaSox game Aug. 6.
Rice, who lives in Startup, is known in the Sky Valley community for serving meals to the homeless, caring for seniors and helping as a midwife — delivering 350 babies over the past 50 years — all as a volunteer.
United Way Board chairman Jim Litz said Rice has left “a legacy of caring and compassion to fuel future generations of volunteers.”
Volunteer Appreciation Night, organized by United Way and co-sponsored by the AquaSox, honors the work of volunteers from throughout Snohomish County with free tickets to the game.
“This community has really supported our team over the years. We’re happy to give back to the fans whenever we can,” said Brian Sloan, general manager for the AquaSox, in a press release. “Our players were really impressed with Donna. She really is incredible.”
Several hundred tickets were distributed to organizations such as the Tulalip Tribes; Everett Office of Emergency Management; Safe Harbor, a free clinic in Stanwood; Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett; Country Dawn, a pre-school in Lake Stevens and KSER 90.7 FM.
Christopher Steckler, a junior at Jackson High School and a volunteer with Youth United, sang the national anthem. Donna’s son Alan, a member of United Way’s Community Matters Vision Council, threw out the first pitch.
Many of the fans and volunteers in attendance plan to join United Way for its 19th annual Days of Caring event on Sept. 21 and 22, the single largest volunteer event in Snohomish County.
The Roger Bouck Award is named for Roger Bouck, a tireless volunteer with United Way of Snohomish County, Rotary International and Bluebills. He was the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 2005. In 2006, he received United Way’s Spirit of Snohomish County Reeves/Sievers Founders’ Award for lifetime commitment to community service. He died in 2009.
For more information, go to uwsc.org.
Tulalip teens help in the woods
Performing hard labor in a forest isn’t exactly what most high school students expect to do in the summer, but that is what seven Tulalip teens signed up for in early August. The Tulalip forestry crew took part in a two-day stewardship project to maintain the Big Four Ice Caves Trail to disability-access standards in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
Students removed branches, and pulled weeds and vegetation from both sides of the trail. They cleared drainage areas of avalanche debris by rolling logs down a hill.
Most of the forestry projects the students work on are on the Tulalip Reservation. This was the first visit to the national forest for student Moy Flores.
“I like working out in nature; it beats the office,” he said. Flores added that cutting weeds with a weed whip was the highlight of his day.
Foundation boosts Housing Hope
The Snohomish County Windermere Foundation held the 18th annual Golf Tournament on July 17 to benefit Housing Hope.
Between sponsorships, golfer fees and mulligan sales, more than $11,500 was raised to go directly to provide shelter and services for homeless and low-income families in Snohomish County.
Other sponsors included Union Bank, Alaska USA Mortgage, American Brewing Company, Axia Home Loans, BECU, Cobalt Mortgage, Completely Floored, Harsmen &Associates, J Lee Floors, Marysville Paint, Mortgage Advisory Group, Network Home Loans, Pillar to Post Inspections, Rainier Title, Sign Pros, Sterling Bank Home Loans, Stewart Title, The Herald, Whidbey Island Bank, Windermere Mortgage and Windermere Real Estate Edmonds.
Housing Hope, founded in 1987, provides housing stability for struggling families. More information is available at www.housinghope.org.
To submit news for the Applause, contact reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
