Bethany Bender, AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) with Local Foods Connection, was presented with a Governor’s Volunteer Award on Friday, June 24, 2011.  Bender was nominated for her exceptional work with Local Foods Connection (LFC).  She first began working with LFC in the fall of 2009 for five hours per week, and then became a full-time AmeriCorps volunteer one year later.   Bender is dedicated to advancing the cause of local food and to the mission of Local Foods Connection.   Her work with LFC includes volunteer coordination, fundraising, publicity, and program development.

The Governor’s Volunteer Awards program was created in 1982, with the first awards presented in 1983.  Originally, the program was available only to state agencies, but now is open to all Iowa nonprofit, charitable, and government organizations.  Volunteers may be nominated by the organizations with which they work as an individual or group that has:

a)   demonstrated exceptional commitment to volunteerism by helping with a special project or ongoing activities.

b)   demonstrated exemplary leadership, creativity, cooperation and hard work in their service to others.

c)   made an outstanding contribution to state or community through volunteer service.

Volunteers may also be honored for participation in disaster relief or for the length of their service.

Iowa is ranked second in the nation for number of residents who volunteer, with 38.7% of Iowans volunteering an average of 40.1 hours per year.

In monetary terms, these volunteer hours add up to a worth of $2.0 billion.

Iowa City ranks second for volunteerism among 75 mid-sized cities, with 50% of residents volunteering an average of 42.2 hours per year.

On an average annual basis, volunteers in Iowa City contributed a total of 6.1 million hours of service per year (based on 2006-2009 data).