First Lady Rose Dunleavy congratulated the eight recipients of the First Lady’s Volunteer of the Year Award at the ceremonial luncheon at the Governor’s Residence in Juneau. First Lady Dunleavy and her selection committee continue the tradition of recognizing the outstanding contributions of these dedicated individuals. First Lady Bella Hammond founded the First Lady’s Volunteer of the Year awards in 1974. Each year, the awards celebrate and encourage the spirit of volunteerism in Alaska.
Three of the eight Volunteer of the Year Award recipients are from the Kenai Peninsula.
Kathy Gensel is the Director of the Central Peninsula Health Foundation for Central Peninsula Hospital. She has worked to bring awareness to the Kenai Peninsula on the issues of homelessness and housing insecurity with her active engagement in Project Homeless Connect and Shelter Development workgroups. She also was pivotal in helping acquire a new facility that now houses the Nikiski Shelter of Hope.
Gensel tells KSRM how she feels about being one of the recipients:
“You know embarrassed if anything else because I don’t do it for the accolades and all of that. I kind of have to get over that a little bit. I was very humbled and it’s a very cool honor to get. It was wonderful. They flew us down to Juneau and we had a little ceremony and lunch yesterday at the Governor’s Mansion with the First Lady. Actually, the governor was there at the very beginning and introduced his wife to us and then she did the presentations and everything, but it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, and the cruise ships were in, and it was really nice.”
Gensel says to become a recipient, you have to be nominated by someone and she was nominated by a former Volunteer of the Year, Bonnie Nichols.
Other award recipients that were recognized at this year’s ceremonial luncheon included Sharon Stevens-Ganser, who’s pivotal in lending a hand with events in Seward including Mt. Marathon, Tsunami Swim Team meets, the Silver Salmon Derby and Seward Arts and Music Festival, as well as the Polar Bear Jump and more.
Also receiving recognition is Charlene Tautfest, who’s the President of the Soldotna Rotary. She has focused most of her time on health care in the state, holding leadership roles on the Alaska Mental Health Board as Chair, Peninsula Community Health Services as President, and the Alaska Primary Care Association Policy and Advocacy Committee as Chair.
Click here for more information. The photos from the event, and of all the awardees, can be viewed here.