The city honors its volunteers tonight at the City of Destiny Awards. Below are the four individual award winners. Tomorrow’s paper will spotlight the four group winners.
Valarie Osborne (Adult Leadership): Twenty-eight years ago Osborne made a promise to help people who were down on their luck. At the time, she was one of those people-a single mother of two with unforeseen medical bills suddenly added to an already tight budget. So when Osborne achieved a position to give back, she did. In 1999, she founded My Sister’s Pantry-a feeding program where the volunteer hosts and hostesses treat clients as guests – even family. Two evenings a week and one Saturday a month, volunteers set tables not with paper plates and plastic utensils, but with china and silverware on tables covered with cloth tablecloths. Volunteers fill grocery bags to order so guests can fill their own pantries at home. Monthly, the pantry serves 1,300 people.
Andrew Klein (Youth Leadership): At 18, Klein, a Bellarmine Preparatory School senior, is already one of Tacoma’s leaders. An accomplished ballet, jazz and modern dancer, Klein was telling the tale of the Nutcracker to third grade students at Stanley Elementary where he volunteers and found out that none of them had ever seen a ballet. He researched and wrote a grant to The Dimmer Foundation, which then funded a class trip to see the Nutcracker at Pantages Theater. Klein managed the entire field trip, arranging for official permission from the Tacoma School District, transportation and snacks. The entire class also got to attend the Sugar Plum Tea after the ballet, where the children met the performers. Klein now volunteers with The Dimmer Foundation reviewing and summarizing grants. He also volunteers with the Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation.
Myrtle Appling (Adult Sustained Service): When Appling is minding Tacoma’s senior craft store, you can bet that the consignees get more than just a place to showcase their work. For the past 25 years, Appling has encouraged fellow seniors to pursue their passion to create. From first-hand experience, she knows that creative pursuits give joy to the creator as well as those who receive the creation. Her own creative journey began at age 17. As the youngest member of the “Wings Over Jordan” Gospel choir, Appling-then Myrtle Jones-sang regularly on CBS radio and toured Europe entertaining the troops during World War II. Now, the hardworking grandmother focuses on igniting that creative spark in fellow seniors. In addition to helping consignees improve and price their products, she manages the entire craft store operation, recruiting and training other volunteers, maintaining the inventory, keeping quality and pricing in check and paying the bills-sometimes from her own wallet.
Thu Truong (Youth Sustained Service): For Lincoln High School junior Thu Truong summer break means more time to volunteer. For the past two summers, she’s logged in 130 hours of volunteer hours at the St. Joseph Medical Center Gift Shop. Truong has been involved in community services since 1998 when she attended Stewart Middle School. This summer, she plans to continue volunteering at St. Joseph’s, but this time, she has her sights set on getting a head start on her planned medical career.