April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month and we celebrate those who dedicate their time to be stewards and leaders of our community through volunteerism. National Volunteer Appreciation Month also encompasses National Volunteer Week. This year, National Volunteer Week is celebrated April 15-21.

A special thank you to all the volunteers who make a positive difference in our communities by donating their time and talents. 

“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.”                            –Author Unknown

December Volunteers of the Month are the Race Packet Pickup Volunteers! Many thanks to the volunteers who helped pass out race packets at the Back Country Half-Marathon for Highlands Ranch Community Association-Therapeutic Recreation. Two shifts of parents and supporters handed out race packets and shirts to all runners. Thank you for supporting the TR program!

Storytime comes alive when Christopher is in the room! Christopher brings his best each and every week when he volunteers at the Highlands Ranch library. He shows unlimited kindness toward all participants. He is a mentor to each new family that attends, singing the songs, doing the movements, and enjoying the stories with everyone. Christopher’s enthusiasm helps make Storytimes special and successful.

Sensory Storytime was created to better serve patrons on the autism spectrum or who are otherwise differently abled. Christopher helps make this Storytime possible. His enthusiasm for volunteering is contagious and delightful to witness for both patrons and staff.

Christopher became interested and involved in helping with Sensory Storytime as it was being created in 2011, and he was thrilled when he was asked to become an “official” library volunteer in January 2016.

Fellow volunteer Chris Brannock comments, “He was a wonderful helper from the beginning of the program and kept all the staff and volunteers on target with the storyboard items … He is so cheerful and kind to all the staff, participants and volunteers. I consider him a friend and enjoy seeing him each time we volunteer together.”

Christopher is also active in his community in other ways. He is involved with therapeutic recreation programs at Southridge Recreation Center and is currently on the Unified Basketball team. He is a participant and volunteer with the F.A.C.E.S. Disability Ministry at his church, and also ushers every Sunday. His hobbies include gardening, walking his dog Bingo, and doing arts and crafts.

When the library needed volunteer technology aides, Etash and Abhinav jumped right in. They both wanted to partner with the Parker branch library so they could teach computer coding to elementary school kids.

This past spring, Etash and Abhinav came together with their passion and skills to create coding classes for children. The two young men designed, organized, marketed and delivered the classes to students and their families. After they held the first class in a small conference room, they quickly realized that they would need to book a larger event hall to accommodate the size of the crowd.

“Our motive was to spark an interest in kids at an early age to develop skills in computer science as it is one of the biggest emerging fields in the coming years. Coding class aims to effectively teach problem-solving skills to younger students,” said Etash.

Abhinav points out that many children are unaware that every new technology in the world today needed a programmer to think of it and develop it. He says that it is important to impart to young students that “programming can be fun!”

Etash is a student at Douglas County High School, founder of its Coding Club, and the vice president of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Abhinav is a student at Cherry Creek High School actively involved with FBLA, as well as Robotics Club.

Together, this teen trio has created countless puppets, story-board characters made from felt, and art projects for the Castle Pines youth librarians.  They work independently, create their own patterns, and create beautiful works of art. They are truly creative and make every piece as special as they can.

Emily Yi, Zoe Zizzo, and Carrie Lin with monkey finger puppets >>

Metro Volunteers’ “Heart of Volunteerism” award goes to volunteers Mary Ellen and Kate Thurston! The award seeks to honor exceptional volunteers, celebrating the power of the individual to change our communities.

Mother Mary Ellen and daughter Kate have volunteered at Douglas County Library in Lone Tree since 2014 helping with shelving and special events.

Mother-daughter team Mary Ellen and Kate Thurston received Metro Volunteers’ August 2017 award