Chelsea Clayton Receives Governor's Volunteer Award

2014 Jul 8

The Buena Vista University (BVU) Student Senate and Chelsea Clayton, a recent BVU graduate with a degree in biology from Early, were honored at the 2014 Governor's Volunteer Award ceremonies held in June on the BVU campus.

Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds attended the event, and over 65 individuals and organizations from northwest Iowa received awards at the event in Storm Lake, which was one of six awards programs held across Iowa.

The BVU Student Senate was nominated by the Iowa Department of Transportation, and the BVU students were nominated by Dr. Ashley Farmer-Hanson, director of civic engagement at BVU, who is a member of the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service and co-chair of its volunteer engagement committee.

Clayton was involved in a variety of volunteer organizations and activities and awarded for working with BV Buddies, an organization in which students serve as mentors to local middle school students.

The Governor's Volunteer Awards program was created in 1982, with inaugural awards presented in 1983. What began as a small program only available to state government agencies has expanded over the years and now provides all Iowa non-profit, charitable and government organizations with a way to honor their volunteers with a prestigious state-level recognition award.

Several hundred volunteers are recognized each year with awards in one of several categories: Individual, Group, Length of Service or Disaster Volunteer.

The program is coordinated by the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service and the Governor's Office. More information about the organization and a complete list of 2014 award recipients is available at www.volunteeriowa.org.