The Valparaiso Noon Kiwanis Club presented its 15th Annual Volunteer of the Year Award Wednesday, May 25, 2016, to Nick Arnold of Berkshire Hathaway Executive Group. Arnold was one of ten volunteers nominated by non-profit organizations throughout the Greater Valparaiso area for their dedication and service. Arnold was nominated by the Valparaiso Boys & Girls Club. The Valparaiso Kiwanis Club Foundation donated $1000.00 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County in Arnold’s honor. The Porter County Community Foundation further augmented that award with $250.00 for the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Other nominees included Jane Sanders for the Dayspring Women’s Shelter, Jackie Feller for Hilltop Neighborhood House, Karen Johnson for Housing Opportunities, Margaret Elia for Opportunity Enterprises, Cheryl Oestreich for the Porter County Public Library, Don Frame for Taltree Arboretum and Gardens, Regina Moody for the United Way of Porter County, Tom Newton for the Valparaiso Family YMCA, and Lois Brandt for the Visiting Nurses Association of NWI. All nominees received a plaque recognizing their service.
The Valparaiso Kiwanis Club Foundation was incorporated in 1999 to provide an avenue to further assist the Valparaiso Noon Kiwanis Club in providing scholarships, charitable donations, memorials, and the Volunteer of the Year Award.
The Valparaiso Noon Kiwanis Club has approximately 150 members who are business owners, educators, doctors, retirees, government employees, lawyers, police officers, firefighters, pastors, architects, and more. It supports the local community by donating all profits back to those in need. In any given year, it returns nearly $50,000.00 to the community. It is involved with kids, the elderly, the handicapped, families in need of help, or those in need of temporary assistance.