SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sam Delis received a once-in-a-lifetime birthday present this week — hand delivered by President Bush.
Delis was given the highest level of the President's Volunteer Service Award, a pin, and a handshake Wednesday night for coordinating thousands of volunteers who helped Hurricane Katrina evacuees at Camp Williams more than a year ago.
"It gives (me) an overwhelming sense of patriotism," Delis said. "And the fact that an average citizen like myself could shake the hand of the highest office of the land was a wonderful experience."
Delis said he thought the phone call he received from the White House a month ago while he sat in a Phoenix, Ariz., airport was a joke. Somebody, he doesn't know who, had given his name as a person who deserved to be honored by the USA Freedom Corps.
The department was created by President Bush as an office of the White House that encourages American citizens to participate in volunteer service. Volunteer organizations can register online with the department at www.presidentialserviceawards.gov and request awards for their participants. Awards vary, based on the number of hours completed by each volunteer.
Since the department was initiated in 2002, some 487,471 presidential awards have been distributed. Only 500 awards have been given by the president in person. Delis is the second Utahn this year to receive the award directly from the president.
"He spent more time with me than I thought he would," Delis said. "It was probably just seconds, but it was long enough to shake hands and share a few thoughts. Then he headed to the crowd."
Delis says he shouldn't have been the only one standing on the tarmac below Air Force One with Utah's dignitaries on Wednesday. Delis helped to coordinate more than 1,400 volunteers at Camp Williams when Hurricane Katrina evacuees arrived a little more than a year ago, but he says he did nothing more than anyone else at the time.
Delis, a resident of Saratoga Springs and a local LDS Church leader, became involved when a director of the LDS Church's Humanitarian Services department contacted him. Saratoga Springs is geographically close to Camp Williams, and Delis was asked to help distribute clothing and other necessities to the evacuees.
Delis spoke with an adviser to the governor and community advocate, Pamela Atkinson, and made sure a distribution "store" was staffed by up to 30 people for several shifts a day.
"I think the evacuees were so appreciative," Atkinson said. "Not only were people helping them and giving out the clothes, but they were extending warmth and love and care at the same time. It wasn't only what (the volunteers) were doing, it was how they were doing it."
Ken Evans, a friend of Delis who serves with him in the LDS Church, was also involved with the organizing effort. Evans said he will never forget what it was like in the first hours when evacuees started to arrive.
"It was chaotic," Evans said. Some evacuees "came with nothing but a blanket around them. Some of them had been in the same clothes for days. It was gut-wrenching to think what they had gone through."
Evans said there were so many volunteers who had come to help that they eventually had to turn some people away. Those who stayed helped sort clothing, distribute items and call volunteers.
Though Delis received an award for his part in the effort, Evans said they weren't looking for any recognition for their work. The reward came from doing the work, he said.
"There were a lot of good things that happened," Evans said. "There were a lot of really good experiences and a lot of appreciation. There were a lot of stories of people who got help and got what they needed and appreciated it."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com