Congratulations to our 2024 Ad Astra Volunteer Honors Recipients!
2020 marked the start of a new Nancy Perry Day of Caring tradition, the Ad Astra Honors. Ad Astra Honors celebrate volunteers in our community who go above and beyond to serve others. They are the unsung heroes, rarely seeking recognition and often are happy working their magic out of the spotlight.
The Honors will eventually encompass a variety of volunteer awards, including the Marge Heeney Award that honors volunteers who work directly with United Way. In 2021, we split the Ad Astra honors into two categories. The Professional category accepts nominations of volunteers ages 22 and over. The Youth category accepts nominations of volunteers ages 21 and younger. This year we also awarded an Ad Astra in memory of former UWKV Director of Volunteer Engagement Kimberly Wolff, which was accepted by her son and daughter.
See the list of previous recipients at https://www.uwkawvalley.org/ad-astra-volunteer-honors.
This year’s recipients
Service to Community—Professional
Tom Muth, volunteering for the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Service to Community—Youth
Ellen Austin, volunteering for Stormont Vail Health and Habitat for Humanity
Marge Heeney Award—Kenneth Taylor, employed by Hill’s Pet Nutrition
UWKV also presented a special memorial Service to Community Ad Astra to the children of former United Way Director of Volunteer Engagement Kimberly Wolff for Kimberly’s contributions personally and professionally to the Shawnee County volunteer community. Kimberly passed away earlier this year.