Award Winners Stories

Albany Target Distribution Center ~ Community Partner Hero

	Andy Frey, Target Representative

The Target Distribution Center donates literally thousands of volunteer hours in our local communities.  In the past year, the Albany Target Distribution Center’s employees:

• Worked with Cascade and Tangent Elementary Schools helping with reading, a school carnival and a field day.

• Donated over 100 hours of service to Mighty Oaks Children’s Therapy program repainting rooms, creating murals and building new shelving.

• Assembled more than 7,000 comfort kits for American Red Cross distribution in Oregon to victims of disasters, like home fires.

• Spent a United Way Day of Caring with the local Boys & Girls Club.

• Raised more than $50,000 for the Linn County United Way to support local community services.

Lyle Wachsnicht ~ Military Hero

Our Military Hero Award is presented to a member of the Armed Forces (active, retired, commissioned, or non commissioned) whose compassionate or life-saving actions went beyond the call of duty. 

Lyle Wachsnicht is a retired Marine.  After serving in World War II, he decided to donate blood.  At that time he found out that he has a very rare blood type, O Negative, which is usually compatible with all other blood types.  Lyle decided it was his duty to donate as much of his blood as he could to help save others’ lives.

When Lyle first started donating blood, drives were only held four times a year in this part of Oregon.  Now they are far more frequent.  At the age of 87, Lyle donated his 260th pint of blood, that’s 32.5 gallons!  His much needed blood donations helped hundreds of people who desperately needed transfusions.

Not only did Lyle donate his blood regularly, but he also recruited five generations of his family to donate their blood as well.  Lyle’s mother, Lyle and his wife - Ann, their daughter, grand-daughter and two of his great-grandchildren have all taken on the cause and have donated blood.

Lyle is very proud of the fact that he has never taken a prescription drug.  He attributes his good health to his blood donations - keeping his blood circulating new blood all these years.  Nominated by: Carole Meuler

Dr. Ken Johnson, DDS ~ Medical Hero

The Medical Hero Award is presented to a professional or volunteer trained in the medical profession whose life-saving or compassionate actions went above and beyond the call of duty.

Dr. Ken Johnson has dedicated his life to alleviating dental pain and suffering in both adults and children.  Over his career, Dr. Johnson took time from his private practice to travel the world, with over 25 trips, to provide volunteer dental care in third world countries. 

In 2007, Ken had a powerful dream: to deliver free dental services to children who could not afford them in Benton County.  He approached the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis with his vision of a free dental clinic, and with the community’s support this dream became a reality in 2008.

The clinic is a community effort with Ken at the helm.  A space was remodeled within the Boys & Girls Club.  Ken encouraged local supply and dental equipment providers to equip the clinic within the limited budget that had been secured through generous donations from three foundations.  Ken created a permanent space that is dedicated to alleviating and preventing dental pain in children and he volunteers countless hours of his time there.

Before the clinic, families were taking their children to the hospital emergency room.  Since the clinic, children are being served quickly and appropriately with a good dose of prevention education to send them home with.  Recently, a young boy from Mexico, who spoke almost no English, arrived at the clinic and was crying and terrified of being examined.  In Mexico his previous dental experiences had all resulted in tooth extractions.  Ken took his time, did not rush the process, and created a safe environment for the boy, which eventually calmed him down.  The boy has since been provided with much needed dental treatment and all of his appointments began and ended with a big smile.

Aside from volunteering with the clinic, Ken has created an endowment through the Benton County Foundation to ensure the long-term financial support of the clinic.  Ken also mentors and teaches at LBCC and OSU’s pre-dental program and volunteers with the Boys & Girls Club and Rotary Club in Corvallis.  Nominated by: Helen Higgins and Amy Harwell

Jerry Hull ~ Compassion Hero

The Compassion Hero Award is presented for compassionate response that made an outstanding difference in the lives of others.

Benton Hospice Service (BHS) is a non-profit organization that provides compassionate and professional care at the end of life.  They focus on easing suffering, protecting dignity, respecting choices and supporting grieving.

One of the staff at BHS took a computer class from Jerry.  Jerry agreed to help BHS upgrade and maintain their database system.  Once Jerry was exposed to the mission of BHS he decided he wanted to become a patient care volunteer too.

Jerry became a key volunteer in the BHS Compassionate Companion Program and as a respite care volunteer.  The patients in the program have no friends or family members in the area and would otherwise die alone.  Jerry routinely takes the hard-to-fill middle of the night shifts and spends his weekends coordinating other volunteers when they are needed.  Jerry also lends his carpentry and sewing skills, building shelves for supply rooms and creating custom cushions for patients.

Jerry remains humble about his contributions saying, “I’ve had so many kindnesses done for me.  I can’t begin to pass them all on, but I keep trying.”  Nominated by: Mari Beth Hackett

Tim Chase & Ken Stewart ~ Professional Rescue Heroes

The Professional Rescue Hero Award is presented to a professional or volunteer trained in professional rescue whose compassionate response or life-saving actions went above and beyond the call of duty.  Tim and Ken both work for the Linn County Sheriff and they both volunteer their time with the Linn County Search and Rescue Team as team leaders. 

In October of 2007, the Search and Rescue team was out looking for a missing mushroom picker.  The missing person was found by another group and it was time for Tim and Ken’s group to head back.  On the way back, one of the youth Search and Rescue team members chose a different way down than the group.  He became trapped on a ledge of a 25-30 foot cliff.  There were no holdings or footings for a way up or down.

Tim reached the youth and tried to find away to pull him up.  Nothing was nearby for Tim to grab onto for stability.  Meanwhile, Ken was down below and could see the danger the boy was in if he lost his footing.  Ken immediately went back up the cliff and formed a human chain with Tim.  The boy was able to climb up Tim and Ken, like a ladder, to reach safety.

Tim and Ken’s quickly thinking, action and willingness to risk their lives to save another’s resulted in the rescue of that youth team member.  We applaud their preparedness and safety training skills and thank them for their service to our community!  Nominated by Nancy Carpenter

Life-Saving Hero ~ Paul Hennan

The Life-Saving Hero Award is presented for the use of life-saving skills.  Paul was nominated by the American Red Cross and Tom Phelps, Fire Chief of Philomath Fire & Rescue.

Paul Hennan, a Comcast technician, was working in a subdivision in Philomath when he heard a woman shouting for help from a nearby address.  Paul immediately ran to her aid.

The woman had noticed that someone had collapsed in her neighbor’s yard.  She called 9-1-1 and they instructed her to roll the man over.  When she was unable to do this the 9-1-1 operator instructed her to shout in the street for help.  Thankfully, Paul responded.

Comcast trains their employees in Red Cross first aid and CPR.  Paul was able to roll the man over.  He was blue in the face.  Paul checked the man’s vital signs and airways and determined that CPR was necessary.  Paul performed Compression-only CPR until Philomath Fire & Rescue reached the scene and took over.  As a result of Paul’s quick and correct actions, the patient survived.

It was a rural location and it took Fire & Rescue between 10-15 minutes to reach the scene.  Chief Tom Phelps stated that had Paul not stepped in and performed the compressions that kept the blood circulating to the heart and other organs, the man most likely would have died before the Rescue teams arrived.

We thank Paul for his life-saving actions and Comcast for training their employees in life-saving skills!  Nominated by: American Red Cross and Philomath Fire & Rescue

Heroes Nominees Stories

Helen Cleveland was nominated for an Everyday Hero Award by Melissa Maxon.  Helen has been a Senior Companion volunteer for 16 years.  Helen has donated more than 5,000 hours of her time and logged more than 26,000 miles of travel to her senior clients’ homes.  Without Helen, many of these clients may not have been able to remain living in their own homes.

One of Helen’s clients commented, “Helen is a godsend!  She has improved the quality of my life!”  Melissa stated, “It is dedication like Helen’s we all should seek to share with others!”

Laure Fowler is an elected Sweet Home City Councilor.  She was nominated for her volunteer work with the Boys & Girls Club as a volunteer softball coach.  Her anonymous nominator commented, “What makes her an outstanding coach is that she knows the most important lessons she teaches her players don’t deal with hitting, catching and throwing, but with conducting their lives with honor, integrity and dignity.  She has a special affinity for kids who maybe don’t have the greatest home life and works hard to support them and to be a role model for them.”

In addition, Laure knits blankets, caps and booties for patients at medical facilities in Linn County and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.  This year she plans to expand her volunteer work to quilting and making stylish “cancer caps” for women who have lost their hair in treatment.  Laure is a wonderful example of the spirit of volunteerism and mentoring.

Barbara Ross was nominated for an Everyday Hero Award by Charles Tomlinson.  Barbara is a long-time community activist and this year she organized Project Action.  Project Action works with homeless persons to help them find work, secure a place to live, advocate for their medical and personal needs, and improve their lives.  Barbara’s work has had a dramatic impact on these individuals’ lives.

Charles states, “Barbara wraps a continuum of services around each person to help them on their journey.  This one-at-a-time approach has high levels of success.  With the work Barbara has done, she can be considered a life-saver!”