By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
BENTON HARBOR - The day was for celebrating volunteers of all levels.
The Volunteer Center of Southwest Michigan held the 2006 National Volunteer Week Awards Thursday, honoring some of the newest volunteers in Berrien County, as well as a few people who have made a life out of donating their time.
Three awards - the Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award, the Margaret B. Upton Volunteer Leadership Award and the Corporate Neighbor Award - were handed out at the afternoon luncheon at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center.
Receiving the Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award was Seth Carlson. The Van Buren Technology Center senior was nominated by the Van Buren Tax Coalition.
Carlson accepted the challenge of chairing the Coalition after its acting head stepped down. The Coalition provides a free tax preparation service for low-income, working and elderly individuals in the community.
Carlson's list of volunteer services also included work with a group called Circle of Friends, which organized events with handicapped and mentally retarded students in the Berrien County Intermediate School District.
His time volunteering has provided Carlson with a whole new view on almost everything he's involved with.
Hope College in Holland is where Carlson said he plans to continue his education and volunteer services. He will take with him a $1,000 scholarship from Chemical Bank.
A total of 33 high school students were nominated to receive the Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award, including Niles High School's Paul M. Butler IV and Leah Mitchell, and Edwardsburg High School's Kaitlyn Smous.
Butler has contributed time to downtown events like the Niles Riverfest Dragon Boat Race and the Hunter Ice Festival, and, is also a member of the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council.
Leah Mitchell is a Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) teen leader and captain, a summer junior counselor at Fernwood and a tutor for Ring Lardner Middle School.
Edwardsburg's Smous is a Relay for Life organizer and participant and mentor for second graders. Smous was nominated by Lakeland Hospital of Niles, where she has assisted the medical staff since last fall.
Receiving the Margaret B. Upton Leadership Award was Mary Jo Tomasini. She was nominated by Junior Achievement of Michiana, the same organization she serves as co-chair of the board of directors for. At JA, Tomasini has educated young adults in areas such as economics and business consulting.
Tomasini said she has been volunteering for “as long as I've been alive.”
Special recognition was also given to the Volunteer Center of Southwest Michigan's first and only executive director to date, Kathy Rossow. Rossow was named director of the volunteer clearinghouse upon its inception in 1977. Since that time, the Volunteer Center has grown to cover the entire Michiana region and works with 260 non-profit organizations, 50 faith communities, more than 30 businesses and all of the school districts in the surrounding area.
Thursday, Rossow was passing the torch to the Center's next executive director, Doris Higgins. A nine-year resident of the Niles and Buchanan area, Higgins said she is looking forward to networking with the many agencies associated with the Volunteer Center.
Anyone interested in volunteering in the Michiana area can contact the Volunteer Center of Southwest Michigan at 683-5464, or by emailing volunteercenter@qtm.net.