Seven BVU Students to be Honored by Lt. Governor for Volunteer Service

Seven students and two other people connected with Buena Vista University will be honored with Governor's Volunteer Awards at a ceremony to be held at 1:30 p.m. on July 6 on campus at Schaller Chapel.

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds plans to attend. Storm Lake Mayor Jon Kruse will provide a welcome and BVU President Fred Moore will serve as master of ceremonies. Around 165 people total will be recognized at the ceremony.

Ashley Farmer-Hanson, director of community service at BVU, nominated eight of the honorees as exemplars of volunteer service, participation in which has nearly quintupled at BVU in the last decade. "Each student volunteered over 400 hours this past year," she says. "They have been instrumental in creating a campus culture that appreciates and values service, and are just a few of the great people that work to make our community better."

Since fall 2000, BVU students, faculty and staff have volunteered nearly 95,000 hours of service. Recorded participation rates have risen steadily from 3,819 in the 2000 -- 2001 school year to 18,500 in 2010-11. According to Branstad, Iowa's overall state volunteerism rates are ranked second in the nation.

The honorees are:

* Dustin Killpack, Class of 2011, a public administration and philosophy & religion double major from Logan, served two 450-hour terms with AmeriCorps, another 300-hour term, and was a Summer AmeriCorps VISTA. He also was co-president of Student MOVE, (Mobilizing Outreach Volunteer Efforts), the student advisory board to the office of community service. He participated in two AWOL (Alternative Week of Offsite Learning) trips to Florida, served as an administrative assistant to the Office of Community Service, and was this year's Senior Volunteer of the Year.

* John Killpack, a junior biology and environmental science double major from Logan, served one 300-hour AmeriCorps term while at BVU. He will be a co-president of Student MOVE in the fall. John participated in AWOL the past two years, to the Florida Everglades and Dominican Republic, where he served as site leader. In July, he will attend a leadership development camp by international service organization Oxfam.

* Kirsten Bielen, a junior elementary education major from Redwood Falls, Minn., served on the Student MOVE board and also served a 300-hour AmeriCorps term. She has been instrumental in coordinating food distribution in the Storm Lake community to those in need through local Christian service organization The Bridge. She participated in this year's AWOL trip to the Dominican Republic, was named this year's Sophomore Volunteer of the Year, and earned the Neil Ball Service Award. She was nominated for national recognition by BVU President Fred Moore as a Campus Compact Newman Fellow.

* Gwendolyn Walter, a sophomore from Granger, was the first freshman ever to serve on the Student MOVE board. She was instrumental in planning the Glass Slipper Shop, which provided low-cost prom dresses to community members, as well as the Volunteer Recognition Event. She was named this year's Freshman Volunteer of the Year and participated in the AWOL trip to the Dominican Republic.

* Ryan Scheetz, a junior corporate communication major from Omaha, Neb., served as a 300-hour AmeriCorps member and assisted The Bridge with capacity building. He received a J. Leslie Rollins fellowship to travel in 2012 to a refugee camp Pochalla, Sudan, where he plans to offer technology education.

* Jennifer McDaniel, a fifth-year senior English secondary education major from Des Moines, served on a 300-hour AmeriCorps term and as co-president of MOVE. Throughout her years at BVU, she has been a valued member of the MOVE team, serving as vice president of service learning and vice president of alternative events. She also participated in the 2010 AWOL trip to Appalachia.

* Ellen Hartstack, Class of 2011, was nominated by Pauline Larsen of the all-volunteer TLC Animal Shelter Canine Center in Newell. "Her entire four years at BVU, Ellen spent almost every Saturday at our facility," says Larsen. "In addition to working with the dogs, she spent endless hours doing needed computer work, mailing lists, and working on our Petfinder web site. She regularly organized dog visits to an area retirement center and scheduled on-campus fundraisers. She will be missed big time!" Ellen, who was a computer science major, also participated in an AWOL trip to Kanab, Utah, to volunteer at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the nation's largest no-kill shelter.

Geri Sommerlot, a community member, volunteered extensively following the tornadoes that struck the area this spring. "Geri not only made sure that people were getting assistance with clean up, but she made sure that volunteers were taken care of," says Farmer-Hanson. "Geri is the example of what Iowans are, caring, giving individuals, who will help their neighbors in need."

Anne Dahlhauser, adjunct Spanish teacher, leads The Bridge with her husband Jay. The Bridge was named BVU volunteer Organization of the Year.

The Governor's Volunteer Awards program was created in 1982, and has grown from a small program available to state agencies to its present function of providing all Iowa nonprofit, charitable, and government organizations with a way to honor their volunteers with a state-level recognition award. More than 700 volunteers were selected for awards in 2011.

A complete list of 2011 award recipients is available at www.volunteeriowa.org/awards.