The winners:

2008 Humanitarian of the Year: Walter Gallacher

Walter has been the CMC dean of students, a volunteer mentor for the Roaring Fork School District pre-collegiate program and a Literacy Outreach volunteer tutor, created the Immigrant Stories Project, and assisted Lutheran Family services to become involved to help the West African refugees.

Youth Category: Karen Barraza

Karen is a senior at Rifle High School and has been a volunteer with Grand River Hospital District. She has offered assistance with translation and tutoring and worked as a high school office assistant, volunteered with LIFT-UP, and participated in the first class of the Girl Scouts of Colorado Challenge and Change leadership program

Seniors Category: Mackenzie “Mac” Burnett

Mac volunteers for Meals on Wheels, Grand River Hospital District, Habitat for Humanity and St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and delivers meals at Christmas.

Volunteer Category: Bruce D. Lewis

Bruce worked for more than a year in a near full-time capacity to strengthen the First Presbyterian Church building in Glenwood Springs. He is a past president of the Garden School board of directors, and provided hands-on assistance in an extensive remodeling project for the Advocate Safehouse project.

Volunteer Couples: John and June Zacharias

John and June Zacharias provide meals to people who are ill, and volunteer at all the United Methodist’s church dinners. June is a very creative knitter, makes regular contributions to the Prayer Shawl ministry, and is secretary for the United Methodist’s Women’s organization, and John helps control the sound system for the minister and choir.

Staff Category: Lynn Renick

Lynn is the division manager of the Garfield County Department of Human Services, and has control of numerous departments with more than 90 employees and numerous budgets. She has served on several committees including Child Help River Bridge, Fatherhood, Crime Victim Compensation Board and the Garfield County Human Service Grant Review Committee.

Youth Category Nominees

Christian Bergren Aragon

Christian is a sophomore at Glenwood Springs High School, has co-chaired and served spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts, helped rebuild a shed at Wind Walkers, rang the bell for the Salvation Army, worked concessions at Glenwood sporting events, and worked with the annual Scandinavian Smorgasbord.

Quintin Anderson

Quintin is just 10 years old, and was part of YouthZone’s Kiss‘N’Squeal team, which raised more than $56,000 for YouthZone. He conducted a weeklong lemonade stand, hosted a pig roast barbecue, and has been involved with Vacation Bible school and the Halloween carnival at the Garfield County Fairgrounds.

Alida Eide

Alida is 15 years old and has been involved with the Girl Scouts for five years. She has worked with Operation Christmas Child and started the Dollar Chain Campaign to raise money for Operation Vacation.

Seniors Category Nominees

Ajka Wallace

Ajka has helped to build the Medicare assistance program for RSVP. She takes initial calls and screens them to assign volunteers for the clients. She has recruited her friends to become volunteers for the program.

Bonnie Snyder

Bonnie has volunteered at the Silt Nutrition site, setting up the mealsite, greeting participants and serving the meals weekly without fail since 1997. She also volunteers at the V.A. Nursing Home and the VFW. She is also a dispatcher for the Traveler, helps at several bingo sites and assists LIFT-UP and SHARE.

Maggie Klink

Maggie volunteers at Valley View Hospital in the Heart to Heart Gift shop, and goes out of her way to help people in her knitting group.

Maggie Pederson

Maggie has volunteered weekly for the Connie Delaney Medical Library, has been the library chair for the Valley View Hospital Auxiliary Hospital Board, and volunteers with the Auxiliary Assist Program, the Auxiliary Scholarship Committee and Roaring Fork Hospice. She has also helped to establish and maintain the local Sierra Club chapter.

Jeanne Furman

Jeanne has been volunteering with RSVP since 1978, and has been involved in selling daffodils in support of the American Cancer Society, is a member of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, and assisted at the Glenwood Spring Senior Nutrition Program.

Betty Clifford

Betty has been volunteering in Garfield County for many years. She has volunteered for the Rifle American Legion, Bookcliffs Council on Arts and Humanities, the Rifle United Methodist Church, the Rifle Branch Library, the Grand River Hospital District, Rifle Creek Museum, and Rifle Senior Transportation Program.

Evelyn Metzger

Evelyn has been giving unselfishly since the 1990s. She has organized the Carbondale Senior luncheon when it began at the Carbondale Town Hall, and transitioned to Crystal Meadows Senior Hosing, continuing to serve the Roaring Fork and Spoon lunch program.

Volunteer Category Nominees

Victoria Kesler

Victoria runs the Grand River Medical Center’s gift shop, and has put in more than 235 volunteer hours in 2008 for the Grand River Hospital District. She is a Meals on Wheels driver and volunteer for the Grand River Volunteer Association.

Kathy Hall

Kathy volunteers for the Street Cat Coalition, Rifle Animal Shelter and CARE. She traps stray cats, has them neutered, and returns them to where she caught them if they are too wild. She fosters many of the cats or kittens that are tame enough to adopt, and finds loving homes for them.

Judy Comm

Judy volunteers in the RSVP Income Tax Assistance Program for seniors, created many filings for seniors and helped several other counselors become proficient in e-filing.

George Wear

George became the driving force to start the Helping Hand for Seniors program. He researched other community programs for helping seniors and recruited potential community volunteers for the program, which helps seniors with many household tasks to help seniors stay independent and living in their own homes.

Sharen Kurtz

Sharen has been the lead Disaster Action Team leader for several apartment fires, the Aspen Bomb incident, and 10 single-family home fires. She is the direct connect to the area fire departments and takes calls in the middle of the night. She sets up shelters, and interviews the families to see clients get the immediate help they need.

Volunteer Couples Nominees

Annie and Bob Brooks

Bob sits on the board of the Advocate Safehouse Project, and both volunteer for the organization. They hire former students who are struggling, provide meals for students to take home for their families, and organized

Lucy and Dick MacGregor

Lucy and Dick have been active members of the Grand River Hospital District. Lucy has been the secretary of the Volunteer Association, Dick has been the weekly route driver for the Parachute Meals on Wheels, and has worked at special hospital events such as the 9 Health Fair, Grand Chance for Chocolate and Grand Wine Affair.

They are active in the Presbyterian/ Methodist Church, and drive people to cancer treatments in Grand Junction.

Staff Category Nominees

Holly Freeman

Holly is the Transitional Housing Site Manager for Catholic Charities. She has volunteered with Catholic Charities’ Emergency Assistance Program, helped to launch Congregations and Schools Empowered, developed tracking tools to help chart disbursement programs, and took on extra responsibility with Energy Outreach Colorado, Tom’s Door, and the Community Office for Resource Efficiency.

Ellen Klement

Ellen has been the director of the Evenstart Early Learning Program at CMC for the past 15 months, overseeing programs to provide early learning to children of immigrants and parenting classes to their parents. She is a private therapist specializing in working with children. She works with Sopris Therapy, is a member of the community support team to develop plans with families and providers of young children and volunteers for the Suicide Prevention Coalition.

Chief Brit McLin

Brit McLin has been the Silt Fire chief since 2003 and helps make the Meet n’ Eat Nutrition Site a friendly place for Silt Seniors. He has compiled a list of Silt Seniors so he can evacuate them quickly in the event of an emergency. He has arranged to open the fire station to community groups, presents local musicians in concert and provides education on a number of topics.