Savannah Perkins

By Savannah Perkins

The Cache Valley National Service Alliance joined the Public and School Partnership this year to host the third annual Mayor's and County Official's Day for National Service and Volunteer Recognition on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

“There was more of an effort to collaborate with multiple national service organizations to host the event,” said Shonna Ferree, the event co-coordinator and member of the Public and School partnership.

Local national service and Utah State University programs were invited to attend and recognize their most dedicated volunteers.

Volunteers from Senior Corps RSVP, Senior Corps Senior Companions, America Reads, Utah Conservation Corps, and Refugee Services, as well as AmeriCorps membersm were among the attendees gathered at the Historic Cache County Courthouse.

All volunteers who were recognized for their efforts received a certificate from the Lt. Governor's Volunteer Recognition Program.

The Public and School partnership had taken on the task of hosting the entire event in years past, Ferree said. Another addition was the presence of Corporation for National and Community Service representatives, adding to the effort to make the event focus more broadly on many national service programs.

“We are a unique federal agency where we really place a high emphasis on meeting local community needs,” said Jake Murakami, a state program director for CNCS. “We really appreciate the strong ethic of service and volunteerism in our state and feel blessed that we have such strong local support for service programs in this community.”

CNCS is the federal funding agency that is responsible for distributing and overseeing the funds that support all of the national service programs.

Logan Mayor Craig Petersen discussed many efforts of individuals within the community, highlighting the action of seeing a need and taking care of it.

“I commend you, recognize you and honor you as volunteers who got yourselves in the arena and are making a difference,” Petersen said.

Cache County Council Chairman Greg Merrill gave many examples of what creates a volunteer and defined the volunteers of the community as priceless.

“We live in a beautiful valley surrounded by majestic mountains,” Merrill said, “but it is the people who live in this valley that make it all even more beautiful and more majestic.”

“The best part was seeing so many people in attendance showing their support for national service and community volunteers of all ages and backgrounds,” Ferree said. “It was probably the highest attendance we have had at this event, and although people had to squeeze in to find a seat, it was very inspiring to see so many people and to hear each of their stories.”