2009 Volunteer Award Winners

Scroll to the bottom to see pictures of the event.

Andy Wojtanowicz

Volunteer of the Year 2009

After retiring from owning his own construction company here in St. Cloud for 23 years, Andy moved to Arizona.  He was looking for something to fill his time, so he volunteered for the Habitat affiliate in that area.  After volunteering for fourteen years, he ended up being on their staff as a site supervisor.  Three years ago, Andy moved back to the St. Cloud area and started volunteering with our affiliate.  He's volunteered at eight of our houses over those years, including working on Donovan Lakes and 11^th Avenue homes of 2009.  Andy, along with Wilbur Wilkens and Paul Gadway, put in a lot of work this year doing the trim for the houses, being site supervisors and generally being there whenever we needed them.  He enjoys volunteering because he enjoys getting together with the gang and seeing what people can do.  Andy is the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award because he was one of the top volunteers with the most volunteer hours - over 250 hours in 2009 alone!

Paul Gadway

Volunteer of the Year 2009

After retiring, Paul went on a trip with Andy Wojtanowicz to do relief work for Hurricane Katrina.  Andy asked Paul if he'd ever be interested in helping with Habitat, so he got involved with our affiliate in 2007. Since then he has worked on five sites and has served on our construction committee.  Paul, Andy, and Wilbur Wilkens are fondly called "The Three Musketeers" because we can always rely on them to get the job done! This past year the threesome spent multiple weeks doing the finish work on the two houses at Donovan Lakes and the two houses at 11^th Avenue.  Paul says he enjoys seeing the families get a new home and enjoys meeting the other volunteers.

Alice Coudron

Volunteer Leadership Award 2009

Alice got involved with us seven years ago in Wright County.  She was in the committee that acquired land and she used her real estate license and experience to help us identify properties such our Annandale home. She realized that we needed to find ways to raise money for the land, so she started the Wright County Golf Tournament.  She has now organized the Golf Tournament for six years and is on to the seventh this next summer.  With the help of a lot of volunteers, there were over 100 golfers at the event this past year and they raised $7700 for the Big Lake home.  Alice has also used her leadership skills to acquire in-kind donations for Habitat for multiple builds and events.  Because of Alice's ongoing leadership, initiative and organization, she is being awarded the Volunteer Leadership Award for 2009. 

Carol Weiler and Jerry Gerads

Build Homes, Building Hope Award for 2009

Both Carol and Jerry are huge supporters of Habitat for Humanity and of Jimmy Carter.  They got involved locally in the past when Carol was on the St. Cloud Community Arts Council.  She encouraged the Council to purchase art from local artists and donate them to partner families at their home dedication ceremonies.  They enjoyed attending the dedications and hearing the partner family stories.  In 2009, both Carol and Jerry joined the Family Support Committee after being encouraged to volunteer by their friend Flora. They were excited to have a volunteer opportunity they could do together.  Carol and Jerry find it very rewarding to share their knowledge from their own experiences with new home owners.  They are being awarded the Building Homes, Building Hope Award for 2009 because of their enthusiastic involvement in the Family Support Committee, being a Family Advocate and being wiling to help out in any way.

Central Lutheran Church of Elk River

Volunteer Community Group of the Year 2009

Central Lutheran originally got involved with our affiliate when we started building in Elk River in 2005.  The members of Central are very service-oriented and jump when they hear of someone in need.  They also want to equip families in any way and not just pound the hammer by staying in touch with people and continue to support all their needs.  Central Lutheran first met Pam Jenson before she became the partner family for the Big Lake house.  When Pam's apartment building had a fire, Central Lutheran supported her and many other fire victims by holding a "Fire Shower" where the fire victims could come and receive free items for their home.  It was exciting when Pam became the partner family for the Big Lake house and Central could continue to support her by helping build.

It's also not just one person from the church volunteering.  People hear of the need and invite their friends to volunteer at the sites.  In 2009, Central reserved six days at the site, providing volunteers and lunches each day.  They also have a Habitat fund that they continually collect for so that there is a pool of money to give at the start of each Habitat build.  Central Lutheran Church of Elk River is being given the Volunteer Community Group of the Year Award for 2009 for completely surrounding and supporting the Big Lake Build and our partner family.

Bakken Building and Remodeling

Volunteer Business of the Year 2009

DJ Bakken first met Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, while doing relief work for Hurricane Katrina.  DJ got his business involved with our affiliate in 2006 with the two builds in Elk River and was personally on the board that helped organize those builds.  This past year, DJ especially enjoyed being a part of the first home in Big Lake because  not only is it his hometown,  but the house was dedicated in memory of Millard Fuller who passed away in 2009.  Bakken Building and Remodeling staff got involved in the build in multiple ways.  Troy Braiedy oversaw all the site supervision, Jeanne Bakken was a volunteer coordinator, Jerry Bakken volunteered doing a variety of construction tasks, Doug Hayes and Travis Basavage helped get the word out in the community and Vanessa Bakken took pictures of the site.  They even took a day at the site for the staff to come out and volunteer.  Some of the staff even met the partner family after the Elk River fire and provided for some of her immediate needs then.  Bakken Building and Remodeling is being given the Volunteer Business of the Year Award because of their unconditional and undying support for Habitat.

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