Here are some reader nominations of Wasatch Front residents who make a difference in their communities through volunteer work or other such service:
- Pat Haley:Haley served Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless at a soup kitchen in Salt Lake City. She regularly helps anyone who is down and out. She is described as an inspiration.
- James Winchester:
Winchester has belonged to a local search and rescue team for many years. He also helps disabled neighbors by keeping their sidewalks free of snow.
- Colleen Menlove:
Menlove loves to go out of her way to assist others, especially the handicapped. Her nominator describes her as an angel who is there when other people need help.
- Janee Curtis:
Curtis helped start the Utah Chapter of Justice for Children. She has spent many hours of concern and love for people with difficult conditions in life. She also helps the homeless and is very charitable to new neighbors.
- Chas Adams:
Adams is a psychology and history teacher at Skyline High School, but his genuine concern for students goes well beyond his outlined occupation. He is described as influential, spontaneous and willing to sacrifice.
He has been named "teacher of the year" at Skyline several times and has changed the lives of many students for the better.
Adams once noticed a student in a psychology class with problems, including hunger. Adams gave him $5 for lunch and counseled him after school. Adams is said to go the extra mile all the time, though he is too modest to admit it.
Every year he also volunteers to be the director of "Close-up," a student government activity in Washington, D.C.
- Washington S.E.R.V.E. group:
Six students at Washington Elementary School belong to this group - Angie Garcia, Nicole Sanchez, Aubrey Mascarenas, Elicia Cuellar, Denise Thiessens and Autumn Zvonaric.
Every Tuesday and Thursday they visit the elderly in a Salt Lake rest home. These visits boost the morale among their adopted grandparents.
The S.E.R.V.E. group also volunteers to help the homeless. Last fall, the girls provided an activity for children at the Salt Lake Community shelter and staged a food drive for Thanksgiving. They also helped with a sub-for-Santa program.
The girls also helped their school library enter its books into a computer and assisted a school counselor with in-school projects.
- Robert Patterson:
Patterson helps many of his neighbors with yard work in the summer and snow removal in the winter. He helps even when suffering poor health. He also helps read to some blind neighbors and is described as "a Godsend from heaven."