2014 Thurston County CFD Recognition Event

As the final campaign numbers are tallied for the 2013 Combine Fund Drive (CFD) campaign, hundreds of volunteers gathered together at the Lacey Community Center for a night of recognition event to recognize all of the great volunteers out there who contributed time, creativity, skills, energy, enthusiasm and much, much, more to help promote and support the CFD and charities throughout Thurston County. In 2013 Thurston County Employees gave over $1.3 Million with 4,315 employees donating (19.98%) In addition, these employees also logged over 4,000 volunteer hours in the new CFD Volunteer Tracker.

The event kicked off with wonderful music provided by the Olympia High School choir and food provided by Marvs BBQ. The hosts for the evening were members of the Thurston County CFD Steering Committee, a group made up of 20 volunteers who represent multiple agencies and work hard each year to support CFD volunteers and charities in Thurston County.

In 2013 they:

Helped to train about 100 volunteers who participated in the CFD campaign.
Assisted 6 agencies in hosting charity fairs as part of their CFD campaign. These fairs gave more than 50 charities a chance to talk to state employees about their cause and in numerous cases inspired new payroll donations by state employees.
Hosted the annual Charity Motorcycle Ride fundraising event.

The formal ceremony began with Thurston County awards to recognize numerous individuals and volunteers for their hard work. The recipients of the 2013 awards were as follows:

2013 Outstanding Team Award – Department of Social and Health Services, Aging Division of Disability Determination Services: Kathleen Backous, Stephanie Mitchem, Tammy Roller, Erin Scholl, Sarah Norton, Katie Raza, Candace Kennedy and Sheila Gottbreht

This team received multiple nominations for their work in putting together multiple events that were creative, fun and informative. They put a lot of time and effort into planning these events to include ongoing clothing, food and pet drives and two main auctions: The Dessert Fest, with a motto of “its all in the packing” and the Snowy Season Silent Auction which featured 13 charities which were placed between the baskets during the auction to guide shoppers through the great baskets and inspired them to give to local charities. Congratulations to the DSHS Department of Disability Determination Services on your exceptional teamwork in 2013.

2013 Rookie of the Year Award – Jonathan Pitts, Washington State Patrol: Jonathan hit the ground running during his first year of being a CFD volunteer as this was not only his first year volunteering, but he was also tasked with being the WSP campaign leader which is a remarkable undertaking for the first time being involved in CFD. The fundraisers put on by the WSP local coordinators under his leadership raised over $6,000 and brought in numerous new payroll donations. Congratulations Jonathan for a job well done. Not pictured.

2013 Outstanding Event Award – Department of Labor and Industries Annual Flower Sale: Joanne McDaniel, Kelvin Hoang, Dean Heglund, Rose Pelegrin, Denise Gallegos, Teresa Zyski, Ed Lopez, Kelly Dunbar, Imelda Ang, Donald Vaughan, Sue Slusher, Ginny Robinson, Dale Van Kirk, Steve Chase, Chris Freed, Vonda Marcum, Mai Vu, Laura Smith, Thuan Ngent, Evelyn Hinken, Beth Gordon, Lisa Taing, Emilia Mendez, Etta Keller, Donna May, Jim Callen, Cheri Ward, Dan and Sherry Zimmer

The annual flower sale went off without a hitch thanks to a large group volunteers lead by an outstanding team of leaders. This very talented group of people worked long hours late into the night to prepare the fresh flowers in arrangements for this event. This year they also created a breathtaking gazebo out of wood and flowers.

The event is also a unique opportunity to engage others from outside of the agency both through word of mouth to come to the sale which is held in an area open to the public and also through engaging large numbers of local community member volunteers that are not state employees who give their time and talent to assist with the event and return to help year after year.

This year was the most successful to date, selling over 700 units including flower arrangements and plants and raising $5,700 for charity (more than double the profits raised from seven years ago). The team should be commended for their hard work and dedication to a great cause.

2013 Sustained Excellence Award – Shirley Mott, Washington State Patrol:

Shirley has been of the CFD for a long time and was back this year in full power and led or co-led the majority of her agency headquarters events. Through use of some great marketing, Shirley and crew were able to get about 40 or more new payroll donations this year from headquarters staff by offering incentive to pay for a meal at the fundraising event using an ongoing payroll contribution form and then eat for free at the remaining events. This tactic was very successful in both educating employees about their ability to contribute through CFD to their favorite charity as well as getting additional donations during the events.

Shirley’s ongoing commitment and enthusiasm for the CFD and charity work in general is infectious and show each time she takes part in a fundraising event. She is truly inspiring and deserving of recognition for her ongoing efforts every year!

2013 Paul Grudis Outstanding Volunteer Award – Ruth Dodson, Department of Health/ Liquor Control Board: This year’s recipient of the Paul Grudis Outstanding Volunteer Award is Ruth Dodson for her work with Stand up for Kids – Olympia. Ruth serves as the Executive Director for StandUp for Kids here in Olympia which is a nonprofit organization founded in 1990 with a mission to end the cycle of youth homelessness. She works tirelessly year after year to support the organizational goals through services the group provides such as street outreach and peer mentoring. All of her work is done on her own time often putting in a full week’s work of work in volunteer hours. Her motivation, enthusiasm and unwavering love and loyalty for the homeless youth is an inspiration to anyone that comes in contact with her.

Statewide Awards:

The recognition didn’t stop there; following the Thurston County Awards, the Office of the Secretary of State presented state level awards for outstanding work with the 2013 CFD Campaign.

Greatest Percent of Participation within a Small State Agency

Civil Legal Aid, Office of – 100%
Law Enforcement Officers’ and Fire Fighters’ Plan 2 Retirement Board – 100%
Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs – 100%

Greatest Percent of Participation within a Medium State Agency

Department of Retirement Systems – 50.88%

Greatest Percent of Participation within a Large State Agency

Department of Ecology – 28.63%

Most Volunteer Hours within a Large Agency

Department of Labor Industries – 1,940.5

Most Volunteer Hours within a Medium Agency

Liquor Control Board – 342

Nominees:

Karen Cowan, ATG
Andrea McNamara Doyle, PDC

Winner:

Andrea McNamara Doyle, PDC

Nominees:

Aleta Gibson, LNI
Jessica Henson & Team, UW
Joanne McDaniel, LNI
Kathleen Backous & Team, DSHS
Leslie Busch, LNI
Marjorie Creekpaum, DFW
Mary Cooper, DSHS
Mike Low, LNI
Monica Stokes, LNI
Paul Shuckerow, DSHS
Rochelle Barnes, DOR
Ruth Redding, DOC
Sarah Rogerson, LNI
Beverly Pogue & Team, ESD
Stephanie Hickman, WSP
Susan Zacher, ATG
Thomas Serra, LNI
Wanda Smid, LNI
Amy Ray, DES
Beverly Pogue, ESD
Chris Anderson, ECY
Elena Rosaire, DSHS
Jennifer Lindsey, DOL

Winner:

Sarah Rogerson, LNI
Paul Shuckerow, DSHS
Joanne McDaniel, LNI
Kathleen Backous & Team, DSHS

NOMINEES:

Colin Helsley, DES
Alana Schmidt, DRS
James Reddick, DSHS
Jonathon Pitts, WSP
LuAnn Oakes, DOL
Pam Parsons, DOL
Rachelle Parslow, CJTC
Tamara Marshall, DSHS
Melanie Rogers, MIL

Winner:

Alana Schmidt, DRS
Colin Helsley, DES