HomeMy WebLinkAboutVolunteer Recognition Reception
Contact: Jennifer Bennerotte, Communications & Marketing Director
Phone 952-833-9520 • Fax 952-826-0390 • Web www.CityofEdina.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City honors volunteers at annual reception
Edina, Minn., May 2, 2011 – One of the City of Edina’s top awards for community service was recently
presented to a philanthropist who worked to raise money last fall for a young African boy’s education.
Mayor Jim Hovland presented Paul Mooty with the Mayor’s Individual Service Commendation at Edina’s Volunteer
Recognition Reception April 28 at Edinborough Park. The award is given annually to an individual for outstanding
volunteer service.
A Past President of the Rotary Club of Edina, Mooty helped raise about $30,000 in October to pay for 6-year-old
Moses Mwaura’s education in Nairobi, Kenya. Last spring, the Rotary Club of Edina brought Moses to Minnesota
from Africa to have his crossed eyes surgically corrected and to repair his damaged teeth. Until this life-changing
experience, Moses had lived in the slums of Nairobi.
Mooty is a current member of the Edina Community Foundation Board of Directors and past member of the
Transportation Commission. He recently completed a one-year appointment as an Executive In Residence at the
Center for Integrative Leadership at the University of Minnesota. There, he wrote a case study on the integrative
leadership aspects of Rotary’s role in polio eradication, which was later used in a graduate class on leadership.
Hovland presented five other prestigious awards at the Volunteer Recognition Reception.
Mayor’s Service Club Commendation – Edina Federated Women’s Club
Awarded to a club or organization that has made outstanding contributions to the community through its regular
activities or through special projects.
The Edina Federated Women’s Club has made this a year of multiple special projects to be accomplished in place of its
usual philanthropic fundraiser, Feds Fest. The Club’s mission during 2010-2011 is to complete several service projects,
especially in support of Cornerstone and VEAP—organizations that provide food, shelter and clothing for women and
their children who are experiencing domestic violence.
Mayor’s Connecting With Kids Commendation – Edina Communications Explorers Post
3411
Awarded to an individual or organization making a positive impact in the lives of Edina youth.
Chartered in the fall of 2010, the Communications Explorers Post is for young people ages 15 to 20 who are interested
in pursuing a career in the communications field. Exploring is a national program of Learning for Life, and its purpose is
to provide experiences to help young people mature and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.
Organizations that sponsor Explorers posts match their people and program resources to the interests of young people
in the community. The result is a program of activities that helps youth pursue their special interests, grow and develop.
Exploring programs are based on five areas of emphasis: career opportunities, life skills, citizenship, character education
and leadership experience. Members are high school students from Edina, St. Louis Park, Benilde-St. Margaret and
Totino-Grace.
Mayor’s Youth Commendation – Apeksha Goonewardena and J.D. Loyle
Awarded to a young person who has demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of life in the community.
Apeksha Goonewardena is a junior at Blake School who has volunteered a significant amount of time in service at
Fairview Southdale Hospital as a “Junior Volunteer.” In this role, she has been active in the STEP Force Program since
the spring of 2009. At the hospital, STEP Force volunteers transport and discharge patients, many of whom are anxious
and nervous. In 2010, Apeksha gave over 254 hours of her time.
J.D. Loyle, an Edina High School sophomore, is a charter member of the Communications Explorers Post 3411. As a
member of the Post, J.D. has perfect attendance, not even missing the field trip to the Star-Tribune Heritage Center
scheduled over winter break. In addition to the regular activities of the Post, J.D. has provided office assistance to the
City’s Communications & Marketing Department, reviewed content on the City’s website, helped produce a broadcast
of the Edina City Council and assisted with the taping of Edina’s monthly newscast “Agenda: Edina.”
Mayor’s Outstanding Senior Commendation – Shirley Johnson
Awarded to a senior citizen for outstanding volunteer service within the community.
Shirley Johnson has been an active volunteer at Fairview Southdale Hospital since 1969. Johnson
volunteers weekly at the hospital’s information desk where she greets patients and visitors, answers the
patient information phone line and directs people to their destinations.
Mayor’s Community Involvement Commendation – Police Officer Brian Hubbard
Awarded to a City employee for outstanding volunteer service to the community, above and beyond his or her
position with the City.
Officer Brian Hubbard, who joined the Police Department in 2007, is well known in the community for
coordinating the Department’s Citizens’ Academy, an exciting 11-week program that gives participants an
informative, interactive look behind the scenes of the Department. Attendees make mock traffic stops,
tour the Hennepin County jail, learn defensive tactics, follow the course of a criminal investigation and
process a crime scene. Among other things, Hubbard organized the “Wills for Heroes” event at the Police
Department. This provided officers and their spouses the chance to have their wills drafted for free
through volunteer attorneys. Hubbard also helped structure and participated in the Edina Youth
Distracted Driving Campaign.
Many service organizations also recognized their own exemplary volunteers at the reception. Awards
were presented to: Heather Randall King, Edina Art Center; Mike Sitek, Edina Chamber of Commerce;
Claire Anderson, Will Kenney and J.D. Loyle, Edina Communications Explorers Post 3411; Mike Opitz,
Edina Community Channel 16; Kevin Clay, Eric Burfeind, Mike Seaman and Bruce Coles, Energy &
Environment Commission; Ginny Pearson, Edina Federated Women’s Club; Sue Neuhart, Edina Garden
Council; Zach and Brynlee Anderson, Edina Historical Society; Dan Johnson, Human Rights & Relations
Commission; Jim Bentley, Edina Kiwanis Golden K Club; Marty LaBelle, Edina Lions Club; Guy Logan,
Mark Shockey, Kricket Opheim Chandarana, Jamie Sedor, Jim Warner and Mark Moore, Edina
Morningside Rotary Club; Marilynn Krekelberg and Mab Nulty, Edina Morningside Woman’s Club; Bernice
Amacher, Edina Public Art Committee; Scott Smith, Edina Senior Center; Jane Carpenter, Edina Woman’s
Club; Shirley Johnson, Jeanne Kauth, Betty Settle and Apeksha Goonewardena, Fairview Southdale
Hospital;
The reception is airing through the end of the month on Edina Community Channel 16 (EDINA16) at
12:30 p.m. Sundays, 4 and 9 p.m. Tuesdays and 7 a.m. Thursdays. The reception can also be viewed online
by visiting www.CityofEdina.com and clicking on the “Watch a Program” link.
For more information on the Volunteer Recognition Reception, contact Human Services Coordinator
Susan Howl, 952-826-0403.
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