Mark Tatro

Barre, Vermont

Mark’s dedication to local youth is exhibited through his service on the Barre City School Board, past youth mentorships, and service on the advisory board for the Technical Center. He is a Mason and a Lion, and has served in leadership roles in both organizations. He chaired the Heritage Festival Parade Committee for several years, served several terms on the CVTV board, and the Barre City Planning Commission. In 2011, he assisted flood victims in Barre and Berlin.

Roy Somaini

Barre, Vermont

Roy served his community through municipal, church and community service committees and organizations, everything from the local hospital, Chamber of Commerce, homeless shelter and American Heart Association. As a cancer survivor, Roy was very active in support groups through the Vermont Cancer Survivors Network. As a Rotarian, he traveled to Romania where he worked at a local orphanage and with local officials. He was the recipient of the Rotary International Club Builder Award and to many he was the spirit of the Barre Rotary Club. We lost Roy in 2014, yet his spirit lives on in the work he did and the lives he touched.

Bob Nelson

Barre, Vermont

For decades, Bob has been a leader with the Barre merchants and downtown organizations. His rock cover band Native Tongue frequently offers free concerts to benefit local organizations and needs. In addition to his dedication to downtown Barre, he has mentored and coached both football and basketball for Barre Youth Sports.

Steven Friehofner

Barre, Vermont

Steven teaches English language skills to immigrants and refugees living in central Vermont. He has conducted workshops for Central Vermont Adult Basic Education staff and volunteers regarding best practices and techniques for those working with English language learners. Steven also offers English conversation classes at area learning centers. In addition to the classes, Steve continues to work one-on-one with several students and can often be found meeting with students at the local libraries.

Extra Mile Heroes of Huntington, Indiana With Mayor Brooks Fetters

Huntington, Indiana

Memorial Hills Chain Rattlers Disc Golf Club

Huntington, Indiana

The Memorial Hills Chain Rattlers Disc Golf Club has gone leaps and bounds volunteering their time to install a disc golf course at Memorial Park, and has given 429 Hours of Service with 10 Volunteers to install a second course at Evergreen Park this past year. The Chain Rattlers have cleared sections of wooded areas to make trails for the course, poured concrete slabs, installed disc baskets, and signage. They have put a great deal of time into mapping out and designing the course itself as well. The City of Huntington and the Huntington Parks & Recreation Department is very grateful to the Chain Rattlers for all of their hard work and service.

Evangelical United Methodist Church (EUM)- Marti Lundy (Pastor)

Huntington, Indiana

Marti Lundy is the Pastor at Evangelical United Methodist Church (EUM) in Huntington. Her congregation participates every summer in what is called, “Mission Huntington.” Mission Huntington is a service week program that serves the entire city of Huntington. This past year, 102 members of EUM church volunteered 1,479 Hours of Service. They cleaned up our city’s parks, painted, maintained trails, helped local nonprofit organizations in Huntington, adopted flower beds in the city to maintain, helped with park department program preparations, assisted the city fire department with the Home Fire Campaign, assisted in the City Children’s Christmas Card Display at the City Building downtown, and made care packages for homeless, and those in the hospital. (These are just the highlights!). The City of Huntington is very grateful for the hard work and dedication that EUM has for serving the residents of Huntington.

Chris Elston & Huntington Robotics Club

Huntington, Indiana

Chris Elston and the Robotics Club in Huntington gave 403 Hours of Service with only 12 Volunteers in a five month timeframe this last year. They helped install, program, control, and “debug” the downtown Christmas Light Display in the city of Huntington. The display is synced up with music that people passing through can tune into their radio to watch the show and listen to the music as they drive through downtown Huntington. This is a very large project for the city and could not have been as successful as it was without the help of Chris and the Robotics Club. They are gearing up for the upcoming holiday season and will give another 400+ hours of volunteer service in the next few months. The City of Huntington is very proud of our Christmas light displays and we are very thankful for the expertise of Chris and the Robotics Club!

Jim and Lisa Stack

Whitefish, Montana

Jim and Lisa have been recognized for their many volunteer efforts and philanthropic contributions to the Whitefish community over the years. They have served for over 20 years on the Whitefish Lake and Lakeshore.

In their committee work, they always prioritize water quality and the protection of Whitefish Lake and local bodies of water. In December 2014, Whitefish Legacy Partners officially met its fundraising goal of $2 million to secure a permanent conservation and recreation easement on 1,520 acres in the Beaver Lakes area. The Beaver Lakes Conservation and Recreation Easement secures permanent public access, restricts development, provides continued forest management, ensures a significant stream of revenue to Montana schools and universities, and provides the Whitefish Community a quality recreation amenity known as the Whitefish Trail; and
In order to complete the fundraising effort for Beaver Lakes, Whitefish Legacy Partners received a large “mystery donation” from Jim and Lisa Stack. Their generous contribution of $85,000 capped the fundraising effort in December 2014 for the Beaver Lakes initiative.

Pat Jarvi

Whitefish, Montana

Pat served over 25 years as a librarian for all three schools in the Whitefish School District and served on the Whitefish School District Board of Trustees for over 15 years. She contributed countless hours on school committees and in the Whitefish community, always working selflessly and tirelessly for many efforts, and always keeping kids’ best interests at heart before passing away on July 3, 2015.

Pat was instrumental in rallying the Whitefish community to understand the importance of the need for a new Whitefish High School, and ultimately helped to pass, overwhelmingly, a local bond effort leading to the construction of the new Whitefish High School.

Perhaps most importantly, Pat was beloved by many in town, is certainly missed by us all, and we will all continue to be inspired by Pat’s example.

Leon Martin

Horn Lake, Mississippi

Mr. Martin is one of the biggest cheerleaders we have in this city. He participates in everything the city does and is a major force behind our “Keep Horn Lake Beautiful”. We see him picking up trash throughout the city no matter what the weather is. He also volunteers regularly at a local food pantry. Everything he does is with a smile and warm greeting for everyone.

Leeta Jordan

Palm Bay, Florida

Leeta Jordan, coordinator of training and staffing for the Palm Bay Police Department, is a woman of many talents. Whether arranging fingerprinting for our community events, or adding floral décor to our buildings, we can always count on Jordan. She has volunteered 817 hours within the Palm Bay Police Department and continually seeks areas in which she can lend a helping hand. Serving as a role model for our upcoming youth, Jordan coordinates all the educational tours of the Palm Bay Police Department. More recently, Jordan has extended her creative skills by leading the department’s beautification program, where she refinishes old furniture within the building and adds a floral touch.

Sam Swan

Palm Bay, Florida

Sam Swan, operations supervisor of the VCOP program, continually demonstrates astonishing generosity and an unwavering willingness to give back to the community. As of 2015, Swan has volunteered 1,035 hours, and continues to seek additional opportunities to serve within the VCOP program. Paying meticulous attention to detail, Swan is responsible for training and scheduling VCOP personnel and patrols. As the City of Palm Bay continues its rapid growth rate, we cannot thank Sam enough for his dedication and success in staffing our community events.

Carlos, Checker

Palm Bay, Florida

Carlos Checker, director of the VCOP program, is an outstanding citizen who has contributed over 862 volunteer hours to the program. Mr. Checker goes on to epitomize volunteerism by additionally serving as the Volunteer Emergency Response Team (VERT) coordinator, a program supporting police officers during critical incidents. He is always readily available during a crisis and manages the Disaster Communications Services, which provides HAM radio services when police radio systems go down. Aside from his multiple leadership positions, Carlos plays a vital role in the success and growth of the program, working diligently to recruit a diverse group of volunteers.

Palm Bay, Florida Heroes

Palm Bay, Florida

The City of Palm Bay is privileged to benefit from the steadfast work of our Volunteer Citizens on Patrol (VCOP) program. Over the years, we have heavily relied on the dedication and perseverance of our citizen volunteers as they lend a helping hand to our Palm Bay Police Department. Collectively, our VCOP volunteers have provided over 20,000 hours of community service on countless projects. Their selfless service in conducting home security checks allows peace of mind for residents away on travel, and their ability to complete traffic crash reports enables our officers to remain on patrol and more fully serve the community. The work of our VCOP volunteers never goes unnoticed, and we are truly grateful to have them. (Please see succeeding posts to introduce our Extra Mile Day Heroes in Palm Bay, Florida.)

Representative David Steffen

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Representative David Steffen was elected to the Wisconsin assembly in 2014, but his impact is already being felt in Madison. Representative Steffen has worked heroically on responsibly returning the excess stadium sales tax to the municipalities in Brown County. Sending this money back to the municipalities, rather than let it sit in an account for decades doing nothing, was the right thing to do.

Breakthrough Fuel, Lead by Craig Dickman and Doug Mueller

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Over the last year, Breakthrough Fuel has expanded its operation to include additional space in the renovated Backstage at the Meyer. This space is in addition to their beautiful offices in the former Chamber of Commerce Building. One look around their offices and you can see why they are extremely successful in attracting creative, young talent.

Baird Creek Preservation Foundation, lead by Executive Director Maureen Meinhardt

Green Bay, Wisconsin

The Baird Creek Preservation Foundation is responsible for facilitating the preservation and restoration of the Baird Creek Watershed in order to enhance its value as an ecological, recreational, and educational resource for generations to come. From invasive species removal to controlled burns to trail restoration, this group is doing a marvelous job maintaining the Baird Creek Parkway.

Greater Green Bay Habitat for Humanity, lead by Executive Director Cora Haltaufderheid

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Habitat for Humanity has embarked on a number of impressive activities over the last year, including 2 story home construction, plans for Twindominiums, and a successful Repurpose for a Reason event. Their creative and inspirational approach is improving Green Bay neighborhoods and improving the lives of the families using their housing product.

Susan Lagerman

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Susan is the Brown County Library Communications and Programming Manager. She expertly coordinates all of the library services and programs, provides direction to the youth services team and manages the bookmobile and administration staff. She also serves as the president of Literacy Green Bay, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping adults and families acquire the reading, writing, math, English language, computer, and workforce skills they need to function effectively as workers and community members.

Paul Peterson

East Peoria, Illinois

Paul Peterson has been a resident of East Peoria since 1955. Mr. Peterson has been planting, watering and maintaining a triangle median at the intersection of Illini Drive and Highview Road for 30+ years! The neighbors near this intersection have supported Mr. Peterson’s efforts by donating the flowers planted there by him. The City of East Peoria recognized Mr. Peterson at the September 29th City Council meeting with a proclamation and also changed the name of the Beautification Commission’s Bright Spot Award to the PAUL PETERSON BRIGHT SPOT AWARD. The Beautification Commission also installed permanent sign at the location where Mr. Peterson has been taking care of the flowers.

Volunteer Connection

Salina, Kansas

Mayor Jon Blanchard

Salina, Kansas

Volunteer Connection

Salina, Kansas

Whether it be a fall fix-up, Spring Spruce-up, or a need for 2-3 volunteers for a small event, the Volunteer Connection can always be counted upon to provide cheerful, willing workers for community projects. The work of the Volunteer Connection helps provide opportunities for residents of Salina to “go the extra mile” in service to our community through volunteerism. The staff, board and army of volunteers at the Volunteer Connection continually go the extra mile!

Greater Salina Community Foundation

Salina, Kansas

The vision of GSCF has been “to multiply the impact of charitable giving by connecting community members, non-profits and other partners to look forward to a brighter future.” The foundation is currently the largest community foundation in Kansas, serves the needs of hundreds of non-profits, initiatives and funds throughout greater Salina and north central Kansas. The staff and donors of the GSCF consistently go the extra mile!

Barb Goode – Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Institute

Salina, Kansas

If there were a “burning the extra midnight oil” award, Barb would win it! Barb is simply the go-to person for many who are looking for help finding grant dollars or other funding sources, large or small, with limited information and usually on a tight deadline. Some of the efforts that have benefited in large part to Barb’s efforts are: EPA planning consultants for north Salina, rain barrels, radon detection, sustainability and pollution prevention, food security and advocacy, farmers markets, north Salina, etc. Barb tirelessly goes the extra mile!

Brenda Gutierrez – Salina Area United Way

Salina, Kansas

a.k.a. “Ms. Everywhere,” Brenda has a way of being anywhere something good and positive is happening. Brenda is a strong advocate for many things including: Summer meals and reading for kids, early childhood development, farmers markets and food advocacy, many north Salina projects, quality and equitable bus services (City-Go fifth route, etc), and many more. Brenda cheerfully goes the extra mile!

Barb Young – North Salina Community Development Group

Salina, Kansas

Barb has been the president of the north Salina Community Development Group for the past 4 years. Barb has led NSCD from a small group of concerned citizens wanting to improve living conditions for north Salina residents, to a grass-roots, non-profit organization that has contributed to several “community building” projects such as: Two north Salina planning and visioning workshops, a community engagement collaboration with KSU Salina, Kansas Wesleyan University, and Salina Tech, “Fe for the Cure” sponsorship, many Fall and Spring clean-up events, food distribution, farmers markets, food trucks, and the effort to have a neighborhood grocery store open on East Iron. As president of NSCD, Barb also coordinated efforts for many beautification projects in north Salina, notably, the Five-Corners sculpture and rain garden, landscaping and sculpture on North Santa Fe at Chuck’s Bar, and the landscaping and sculpture project in progress at Hawthorn Park. Barb can often be seen driving a front-end loader the extra mile!

Sharon Thomas, Midwest City Animal Shelter Volunteer

Midwest City, Oklahoma

Sharon Thomas has dedicated her life to helping others and in particular animals. She has been a faithful volunteer for the Midwest City Animal Sheltervolunteering anywhere from 20-30 hours every week including assisting us during evening hours.She will feed animals, help answer the telephones and assist customers when we are short-handed, and evenroll her sleeves up and help clean.Her “going the extra mile” work ethic has made her an integral part of our organization. Sharon’s passion drives her to be at every adoption outreachand has donated thousands of dollars to our shelter to assist with desperately needed projects at our facility. “Volunteers with the dedication that Sharon displays are very hard to come by and we are extremely thankful and appreciative of the help and support she brings the Midwest City Animal Shelter; and in-turn, many animals owe their lives to the support she has given us.” (Adrian Sanders, Animal Welfare Supervisor)

Dixie Garrison, PrincipalEric Price, Vice PrincipalLucia Evans, Special Education TeacherDetective David Hood, West Jordan Police Resource Officer

West Jordan, Utah

On October 14th as students were warming up during gym class at West Jordan Middle School, 14-year-old Skyler Nelson’s heart stopped and he collapsed to the ground. Principal Dixie Garrison quickly arrived on scene and sent a radio call out to the office to dial 911. Vice Principal Eric Price and the school’s resource officer, Detective David Hood, promptly began CPR, while Special Education Teacher Lucia Evans kept Skyler’s airway open and monitored his vitals. Thankfully, Mr. Price had completed a refresher CPR course just 10 days earlier and knew exactly what to do. Their quick thinking saved Skyler’s life. Skyler was born with a heart defect that caused his heart to stop. He recently underwent surgery to install a defibrillator to get his heart beating should this happen again. Thanks to their quick thinking, heroic action, and appropriate training, Skyler is expected to make a full recovery.

Franklin Farm

Cumberland, Rhode Island

Franklin Farm should be recognized for its passion for community outreach and helping others. Forty-three acres of land surrounding the house, including the community garden that’s planted annually, is a tremendous benefit to community food banks. Since 2007, volunteers have harvested 182,844 pounds of crops for community food banks. The farm has also hosted hundreds of school children in outdoor learning plant days.

Wayne Syth

Hayden, Idaho

Mr. Wayne Syth is a true example of someone who goes the extra mile to serve his community. Over the past 30 plus years, he has given many hours of his time in a variety of roles, starting with his role as Hayden’s mayor from 1982 to 1983. Mr. Syth has gone on to volunteer his time as a commissioner on the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission since 2000 and the Chair of the Veteran’s Commission since 2008. Mr. Syth goes out of his way to volunteer his time to make our community a better place and to recognize and honor our military veteran population by leading the City’s Memorial and Veteran’s Day.

Mayor John Suthers

Colorado Springs, Colorado

“As Mayor of Colorado Springs, I call on all citizens of our community to look for ways to contribute to its success. Whether it’s volunteering to help beautify our city, to improve our trail system, to pick up trash or cut weeds, to mentor our youth, to assist our sick or elderly or to support the arts, there are unlimited opportunities to become involved in making our community, our nation and our world a better place. If each one of us maximizes our personal contribution to community, imagine the difference we could make!”

Mayor Daniel T. Drew

Middletown, Connecticut

“Going the extra mile means doing more than is required for the right reasons when no one is looking.”

Captain Gary Wallace, Middletown Police Department

Middletown, Connecticut

Captain Gary Wallace does everything in his power to help people; he is the consummate servant leader, always thinking of others and in the process helping others. Captain Wallace serves the Middletown, Connecticut Police Department with integrity and dedication. In addition to faithfully performing his duties in law enforcement, Captain Wallace also gives back to the following organizations: The North End Action Team, Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council, Gilead Community Services, St. Luke’s Community Services, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, CT Chapter, and the American Legion Post 75 War Veterans. In Captain Wallace’s own words: “I learned many years ago that service to community is the most important thing that any one person or agency can offer. It often times only requires compassion, a little bit of time, and sacrifice.”

Arleen Hubble

Longview, Washington

Arleen Hubble has played a major role planning the annual Go 4th Festival Parade for 30 years and has served as the Executive Director for 10 years, taking care of every aspect even down to the smallest, caring detail of creating and sewing the banners that draped over Nichols Avenue. She is also a long-standing member of the Longview Downtowners and has organized the Longview Christmas Parade for over 30 years. The project spearheaded by Arleen was that of installing additional lighting outlets at the Civic Center so that more Christmas lights could be displayed and enjoyed by all. Other honorable mentions: Survivor Chair for the annual Relay For Life for over 14 years and coordinator for the American Cancer Society Reach To Recovery team—they are responsible for matching Breast Cancer Survivors with newly diagnosed Breast Cancer patients.

Sarah Wallace

Green River, Wyoming

Sarah has done an outstanding job getting the business community involved with our program again. She works tirelessly to gather volunteers and organize events and has managed several successful downtown promotions.

Mike Frink

Green River, Wyoming

Mike is the “Go To” guy. He is always ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done to make sure our events are successful. He gives countless hours of his personal time to downtown revitalization and is a standout leader in our organization.

Mayor Tony Yarber

Jackson, Mississippi

“On behalf of the City of Jackson, It is an honor to be a part of your efforts to encourage all to “Go the Extra Mile.” As a leader, I have always been a large proponent of positive collective genius and collaborative impact that will push communities to do and be the very best they can, to create change that will better the world. Your organization helps to push these efforts. Let’s all, together, go the extra mile in service.”

Mrs. Tjajuan Boswell

Columbus, Mississippi

Tjajuan Boswell is a dedicated volunteer who spends many hours with the Public Works Department to help beautify Columbus, Mississippi. When you enter Columbus, Mississippi, in either direction, you will see evidence of her love for the city’s landscape by the many beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers. Not only does she make sure that one sees the beauty at the entrances to the city, but her work is seen throughout Columbus. She is the “Rose of Columbus.”

Here is a picture of Mrs. Boswell and Mayor Robert E. Smith, Sr.

Hazel Craddock, Citizen and Volunteer

Midwest City, Oklahoma

Hazel Craddock, Midwest City’s “Mother Nature,” has volunteered with tenacity and unfailing commitment on the Park and Recreation Board from 2006 through 2014, and on the Tree Board from 1998 until2014. She celebrated her 100th birthday this year. During her time on the boards she campaigned and became a crusader for the betterment of the citizens of Midwest City as she dedicated ten years toward the conception, funding and building of both the Soldier Creek Nature Trail and Memory Laneand was able to get many organizations in the community to donate time to help clear paths and do some of the manual labor for the projects, including a team of volunteers that worked to fund the project by collecting donations, holding fundraisers and applying for grants.

Vaughn Sullivan, Public Works Director

Midwest City, Oklahoma

Vaugh Sullivan, Midwest City Public Works Director, has served the City of Midwest City, Oklahoma since 1992 in both volunteer work and as an employee. His involvement spans from giving of himself through his local church to assisting with City-wide events such as the annual Tribute to Liberty. For his dedication to the community and “greater good,” the Mayor and City are grateful to Vaughn and wish to extend a huge thank you.

Bonnie Cheatwood, Chamber Executive Director and Volunteer

Midwest City, Oklahoma

Since 1986, Bonnie has served the City of Midwest City. Her volunteer work includes memberships on the Tinker Leadership Community Council; the Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) Community Council; the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments Regional Transit Dialog Steering Committee; the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives (OCCE);and the Midwest City Economic Development Commission. She formerly volunteered as a board member of The Mid-Del Group Homes; the Tinker Air Force Base CommStar and Community Liaison Partner programs; the Oklahoma Honor Flights Committee; and is a Leadership Midwest City Alumni.