FORT SILL, Okla. (April 17, 2014) -- Whether helping with tornado disaster relief in Moore, Okla., or facilitating with her unit's Halloween haunted house, toy and food drives or assisting single Soldiers prepare for deployment, Spc. Ashley Yakel, 23, worked toward improving the quality of life for Soldiers, family members and civilians. For her commitment, Yakel was recognized as Fort Sill's 2013 Active-duty Volunteer of the Year.
"I'm very honored," said Yakel, an administrator with B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery. "My family always taught me to give back to the community, so I've been giving back to the community my entire life."
Yakel, of Edgerton, Wisc., was one of three volunteers presented with top awards at the Army Community Service's (ACS) Helping Hands awards ceremony April 11, at the Patriot Club. Amy Heebner was named Military Spouse Volunteer of the Year, and Kathy Cacho was honored as Retiree Volunteer of the Year.
They were among about 50 volunteers who were recognized by their respective organizations for their service to the Lawton-Fort Sill community. Hundreds of family, friends, co-workers and post and community leaders attended the banquet, which was part of the volunteer activities occurring throughout April here.
Cacho, who was honored for her work with the Military Council of Catholic Women and Lawton's Mobile Meals and Birth Choice, learned she was the winner minutes before the ceremony began.
"I'm overwhelmed, this is very humbling. I didn't expect it and I'm thankful," said Cacho, who is the MCCW Rosary Guild coordinator. The guild makes rosaries for Soldiers, and for use in Catholic ceremonies here.
Heebner, who is the Patriot Spouses' Club president and involved with Growing Spouses Army Strong, Army Family Team Building (AFTB) classes, Army Family Action Plan (AFAP) conference and Operation Homefront Oklahoma said volunteering creates friendships, wonderful memories, fills one's heart and through it one receives more than they give.
Throughout last week, Maj. Gen. Mark McDonald, Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill commanding general, and Connie McDonald, Fort Sill first lady, hosted coffee socials at the Polo Club, seeing about 800 volunteers. They also presented certificates and coins at the Helping Hands ceremony.
"I'm so proud of what you do, I'm so proud of how you do it and so thankful for what you do," the general said. "Thank you for everything that you do to make this country better. This isn't just about Lawton-Fort Sill, this is about strengthening our nation."
During the ceremony, Brenda Spencer-Ragland, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation director, presented General McDonald with a symbolic, oversized check for over $2.6 million to illustrate the dollar value of the volunteers' 118,005 hours selflessly served last year.
"Volunteers are incredibly important, we couldn't do our mission without volunteers," Spencer-Ragland said. "It's absolutely evident in my world, which are the Family and MWR programs, as well as many other programs that don't receive appropriated dollars."
In addition to the volunteers of the year, agencies ranging from the American Red Cross to Youth Sports, and military units had their top volunteers recognized. Almost 50 volunteers were honored with certificates of appreciation, CG coins of excellence and FCoE blankets.
A couple volunteer-reliant programs are AFTB and AFAP, said Merilee Nevins, who is the program manager for those. The programs were created by volunteers, who are usually military spouses, for spouses.
"If I didn't have volunteers I wouldn't have a program," she said. "One of the best things about Fort Sill is its volunteers."
Units submitted their volunteers for the Helping Hands top awards, Batule said. A selection committee categorized the nominees (Soldier, spouse or retiree), and scored them on their volunteer efforts. The three highest scores were selected as the winners.
Six volunteers were also inducted into the Retiree Volunteer Hall of Fame. The hall is for volunteers who have logged over 2,000 hours in the Fort Sill Volunteer Management Information System, or VMIS, Batule said. Inducted were LaRue Hill, Tammy Walton, Cathy Herritt, Helen Mazzo, Mary Durham and Sally Cote.
"Volunteers enhance the quality of life for our programs on Fort Sill and the surrounding communities," Batule said. "Two point six million dollars is a lot of money with budgets the way they are."
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