Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Awards

Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Awards


On December 9, 2009, hundreds of community leaders gathered at the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel to honor eleven inspiring local heroes.  These individuals were the winners of the 2009 Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Awards.  The Awards program was created in February 1976 by the Commission on Community Relations of the City and County of Denver, United Bank of Denver, and the Rocky Mountain News.  A year later, the program was renamed for Minoru Yasui, then executive director of the Commission.

The Awards program singles out, honors, and encourages volunteers in the Metro Denver area.  Each month an individual is selected on the basis of unique or outstanding contributions to the community.  Since the program’s inception in 2976, 385 Awards recipients have designated $674,000 to 465 nonprofits.

The winners for 2009 are:

January - Larry DeMuth, Colorado Judicial Institute (CJI)
February - Laura Alegria, Denver Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC)
March - Bonnie Sauer, Family Tree
April - Terry Higgins, Lost and Found, Inc.
May - Felice Cottle, Meals on Wheels of Arapahoe County
June - Michael Zeitlin, Autism Society of Colorado (ASC)
July - Curtis Gilmore, Jefferson Foundation
August - Janie Cantine, Child Advocates - Denver CASA
September - Dixie Griffith, Denver Hospice
October - Edith Pasion, Philippine-American Society of Colorado (PASCO)
November - Frank Jones, Carriage House Homeless Community Center

To nominate a volunteer who deserves recognition, or to read more about Minoru Yasui, the program, or the program’s sponsors, please visit www.denverfoundation.org.